6 To-Do's For Fundraisers in January

It's January. Time for personal resolutions, goal setting, and...fundraising stress! So how will you cope?

Why is January so tough? Most say it's because...

1. People don't historically donate much in January because they gave in December or they're dealing with post-holiday financial stress.

2. You were so focused on your year end campaigns, that now you have to deal with the follow up--thank yous, data entry, customer service issues, fulfillment of any benefits.

3. Even if you're not on a calendar year budget, there's something about a change in year that has people thinking about resetting goals. So what have you raised lately? Since January 1?

4. If you took time off during the holidays, now you have to catch up. If you didn't take time off during the holidays, you're now dealing with a deluge of emails and tasks from others who did. Either way, everyone is trying to make up for a slower work time at the end of the year.

Don't panic. (Yet.) Try this short check list to get the year off to a good start.

1. Set deadlines.
Get a wall calendar that has the entire year on it. Yes, it's low tech, but it's amazing how seeing the "year at a glance" can help you get projects done.

Calendar mailing dates, event dates, monthly ask goals, grant deadlines, cultivation plans, etc. After the major deadlines are on the calendar, put other "mini" deadlines on the calendar if you need to. Color code it, if that's the way you roll. Display in a prominent place where you and others can see it.

2. Tune up your lists. 
When's the last time you looked at your priority donor lists? Prospect lists? Look at them and reorder them if needed. Also, look at your goals, which are lists in a way. Do they need updating?

3. Stop doing one thing.
We have a tendency to add things to do in January. Resolutions almost always require starting something new. Why not stop something to make room for something new? Identify one thing that you're either not good at, don't enjoy, or can easily and cheaply delegate.

4. Ask for something.
Just because we typically do a lot of asking in November and December doesn't mean we can't ask in January. Talk to someone and ask for something. Maybe it's a gift that you've been developing for a while, or volunteer help, or a donation of services, or simply advice. Ask.

5. Change one thing, but only one.
Okay, it IS resolution month. Pick one thing, and only one thing, that didn't go as well as you would have liked last year. How can you change it, and how does it fit into your existing deadlines and lists? Is it connected to your "stop" item? How can someone help you with this change?

6. Celebrate success.
During the holiday season, fundraisers are often too busy to celebrate the successes of the year. So take a breath and recap what you accomplished last year. Thank your team in ways that are meaningful to them.

Celebrate all you have accomplished so far, so that you can have the motivation to move forward again.

Happy New Year!

What Potlucks Say About Your Organizational Culture

Office potlucks. In some companies, they are a treasured, anticipated tradition. In others, it's a dreaded obligation that people look forward to being over. So what do they say about your organizational culture?

In a successful potluck, i.e., a gathering where guests bring a dish to share with everyone else, all guests participate and bring their best, and the guests generally enjoy each other's company and the food. If your office potluck doesn't go well, here are ways to interpret the things that can go wrong.

1. Only a few play. I attended a potluck once where only about a quarter of the guests brought a dish. Some tried to make what we had feed everyone, but in the end, people just left. This sometimes can be an indication of guests not wanting to invest personally in their work environment. Another indicator is office decor--how many personal items (photos, desk items) are around?
2. People bring what's easy. At another potluck at that same organization, we had several bags of chips and one person emptied out the candy bowl in the reception area to bring for their "dish." In this case, guests resented that the company was not willing to invest in a small lunch for the staff. The perception was, "the company is being cheap."
3. No one wants to go. Maybe people don't want to spend time with each other? In one situation I observed, guests skirted the edge of the room, swept in and snagged what food they could put on a plate quickly, and went back to their offices. This organization has many silos, and these silos were demonstrated in the potluck attendance.

Good teams generally enjoy each other's company, so I use potlucks as a litmus test for how people get along.

This post was really just an excuse to write about food. We post a lot of photos about food, so for more randomness about our favorite travel hobby, visit our Facebook page, or Foodspotting pages by Alice and Jim.

Lessons from 100 Days of Gratitude

From June to September 2013, we embarked on a mission to thank someone every day for 100 days. Honestly, the 100 Days of Gratitude was supposed to be a way to get us to blog more. Instead, it was an inspiring, emotional, touching, frustrating, occasionally dramatic, and, in the end, transforming experience.

We didn't blog more. But we reconnected with many people who have been important to us and continue to affect our paths.

Even though we both experienced this differently, the above deck highlights some of the points that were revealed to us both:

1. Don't make a list. (This from the list maker, Alice). When we began, we both made lists but discovered that we were spending more time making the list than actually thanking people. So away went the list, and we thanked whomever we were inspired to thank that day.
2. Be personal. Early on, we decided that email was "cheating." It had to be a handwritten note, a phone call, or an in-person visit. People who received our thanks were very touched to receive personal attention.
3. Be specific. Often, the people we were thanking didn't know why they were being thanked. By being specific, we could highlight that something that perhaps seemed very minor to them had a huge impact.
4. A gift is nice. Not required, but nice if you're inspired to give one. 
5. Thank every day. Like any habit, it takes a while to stick. There were days when we just thanked one person, and days when we thanked many. But we reached out to someone every day.
6. Listen to your heart. This led to thanking people we didn't want to thank, or people that we didn't know needed thanking. Even the tough ones were rewarding.
7. Laugh. It's easy to get sucked into sentimentality with gratitude. Some days, our thanks were silly, bordering on absurd. (Our colleague, Steve, in Yuma got most of those.) But they were thanks nonetheless, and a whole lot of fun.
8. Experience thanks fully. Emotions are involved in expressing gratitude. Prepare to be moved by them.
9. 100 days is not enough. There are many more people to thank, so we press on. Maybe not as consistently, but we continue.

Thanks to everyone who played along, and of course, to all the people we have been grateful for. We've learned much from this experience, and encourage anyone to take on this challenge. Let us know how it touches you!