Commitment

11 Oct Commitment

This is the fifth blog post in a series of 6 entitled the Fundraiser Mindset. You can read my post on Discipline, Strategic, Communication and Passion here.

So you want to be a successful fundraiser…great news! I mean really, who DOESN’T want to be a successful fundraiser, right?

But wanting to be successful, and putting into steps the actions and behaviours that will achieve your goals are two different things.

You want to be successful, BUT:

• You get distracted from your goals by administrative work, or volunteer work (mea culpa on that one!!) or a whole litany of other excuses.
• You’re quick to point out all of the problems that stop you from doing your job at your organization. It’s the structure that’s wrong. If that was fixed, THEN you could be successful.
• You just don’t have enough time to do the things you need to do to meet your goals.

Zig Ziglar says

When obstacles arise, you change your DIRECTION to reach your goal, you do not change your DECISION to get there.     (← Tweet this)

Have I hit a nerve?

Are you reading this thinking” Jenny doesn’t know what she’s talking about. She doesn’t understand what’s going on in my shop.”

Ah, but I do.

Until you commit to being successful, until you make the DECISION to be successful, you won’t get there.     (← Tweet this)Commitment is key to a fundraiser’s mindset. Commitment hard-wires us to be resilient, to bounce back from challenges, and to find a new path forward.

What does commitment look like?

• Saying yes to things you know you can accomplish.
• Saying no to the things you can’t accomplish.
• Finding an alternate path forward when obstacles arise.
• Being creative when you hit a roadblock.
• Defining your own personal path for success (see my post on discipline)

What are you committed to doing today, in order to be successful tomorrow?     (← Tweet this)

Your Turn – ready, set, go!

Reflect. Take 10 minutes to think about the past 6 months.

1.     When was a time that you successfully committed and completed a project? How did you feel? What was your mindset during the journey?
2.     When was a time that you disappointed someone (maybe yourself?) Can you reflect back and determine why it happened? How could you have changed the outcome? Were you committed to your success?

Liked this post? Check out the other posts in this series—Discipline, Strategic, Communication and Passion. Don’t miss out on any of this six post series about Fundraising Mindset—scroll down this page to sign up for my e-newsletter to get posts delivered to your inbox.