Tis the Season

Give Your Donors Something Else to Talk About

The recurring stories in the media are mostly negative about the economy, virus, election, politics, north vs. south, republican vs. democrat, and everything in between.

Where the truth lies on each of these issues will be worked out in real everyday life over time.

You don’t get to choose what the media talks about and whether it is a fair representation of reality or not. In many cases it is tough to tell what is even reality.

The result can lead to extreme discouragement about the present, the future, and most disappointingly, how you view the people around you.

While so many are leading the masses to focus on the negative, what didn’t work out as planned, and so much of what went wrong this year, there is a wonderful alternative!

The alternative is to focus on the wins in your life.

There are four areas of “wins” you can do this in:

1. Personal – things that built your confidence and increased your energy, enthusiasm, and engagement in what matters most to you.
2. Business/Organization – whether you volunteer, own a business, or hold a paying job; look to the areas that you achieved exceptional results or performed with excellence despite the circumstances.
3. Role/Giftedness – something that you personally accomplished or was completely up to you to achieve and you did achieve despite the obstacles.
4. Team member – activities you chose to do or participate in for the sake of the betterment of others that you serve or work with that primarily benefited them and not you.

Here’s how you can use this with donors:

• Make a list of as many things you can think of in each area.
• Share a few of your wins with donors.
• Invite your donors to do this and involve their friends and family to participate in the activity.
• Encourage them to spend a week on each area writing, sharing, and listening to others about their list.

Do this for a month as you head through the holidays and start to set goals for 2021 and you will begin to see the opportunities that are before you, and how this year, through all its ups and downs, prepared you for the best that is still to come.

If you’ve already set some goals for next year, you many find yourself modifying those goals for a better and bigger 2021.

This conversation will most likely result in the donors ASKING YOU about making a gift.