“Goals do not raise money. People do.” That’s what my dad always said.
Did you know that setting goals and milestones can actually change behavior? I have found that goals do not get the work done, especially in raising money for ministry and vision. This has become a core belief that we teach through our coaching.
But, there is no question that there is indeed a relationship between goals and donors making decisions to give. Learning how to use goals effectively is key to unlocking new levels of generous giving and achieving momentum among your staff and volunteers.
We have three things we teach the leaders we serve to do in regards to using goals and milestones.
1. Use milestones instead of just goals. It’s very important to have a big goal and a sense of where you’re headed over time, but just having a big goal doesn’t help you with the day-to-day work of moving people.
We recommend you define Steps or Milestones because we’ve seen these actually will change people’s behavior. De-emphasize the big goals. Use them very strategically and carefully, but let your near-term goals instead be communicated with the word milestones.
This word implies that you’re moving toward a bigger goal, but we’re taking steps toward it. We’re moving together. Each step builds upon the previous.
2. Use goals to change behavior internally with your team. This will shake people up, but it will unlock a different level and quality of thinking than you’ve ever seen before.
Consider simply changing the timing of the way you’re talking about the goal. For example, if you have a goal to raise $500,000 in the next 6 months, sit down with your team and change that goal to raise $500,000 every month for the next 6 months.
Now, here’s what will happen. Your team will “freak out.” But, keep in mind what we are doing here is not changing the externally communicated goal or your budgeted goal. Instead, what you are doing is changing the way your team (the people doing the work to raise money) perceives the goal. Rather than viewing the goal within the traditional timeline, there is a different level of urgency. Then, the ideas and level of activity that are really possible get unlocked and things start moving at a totally different pace. Following our above example, there is a totally different set of disciplines and behaviors needed to raise $500,000 every month vs. those needed to raise $500,000 in the next six months.
3. Use milestones to move people forward externally. One of the biggest problems with goals is that every individual in your community may have a different point of view on how achievable the goal actually is. Some people might think it’s challenging. Others, might think it’s easy.
The truth is that people do not know what is possible until they begin to experience the impossible as a reality.
Milestones are accomplished just as fast as people make their giving decisions. You may have a timeline that you would like to hit a milestone by, but if people make decisions, get involved, and move forward, then you may be able to hit that milestone sooner. Or, perhaps it will be later?
We can’t move forward any faster than people will move with us. Positioning your goal, milestones, and steps with this truth in mind helps people see the reality that their personal decisions are a huge part of how God is going to move your project and organization forward toward its vision!