Let me give you a framework to think about using your capacity.
Imagine your junk drawer at home.
The larger the junk drawer, the more junk you will find to put in there. Eventually, you will fill it up and go to junk drawer 2.0.
There will always be junk to fill the drawer.
Capacity combines who does what and how much time is spent.
We often let the time available or our inclinations about what we should work on drive our actions, which is a problematic place to start.
Like the junk drawer, work expanse refers to expanding our work to fill the available time.
Working with chunks of time alone simply won’t suffice.
Instead, we must start with what we know is best from a development perspective and compromise very carefully. This ensures we’re not letting capacity, our time, or our own feelings about what we can and can’t do guide our decisions because what matters is how we’re doing on the basics of relationship building.
If we focus on the cans and cannots, twenty years could go by, and nobody has called a donor or had a conversation with a donor because everyone is too busy overthinking.
You aren’t being foolish or intentionally nonsensical; you are doing significant things.
However, at some point, it becomes essential to determine your capacity.
How do you want to relate to someone over the long haul? By forgetting about them? No, of course not.
So, what’s best, and how do we strike a compromise?
The most precious capacity we have and the most incredible opportunity to grow giving is the use of face-to-face, in-person meeting time. This means that you, as the leader, must constantly evaluate who has your focus.
You surely will meet individuals you would love to spend more time with, but as an advancement leader, you are a steward of time, energy, and the dollars invested in you. You’ve done the heavy lifting of establishing the relationship and have garnered their support for your organization. However, you cannot do a second visit with this person, keep following up, or meet with this person every year as your ministry grows.
You have to evaluate continuously.
You are focused on people that God might use in the most significant way of all the people you meet and talk to.
There are no expenses in development–only investments.
Every dollar and hour spent on development should have a corresponding result and impact on giving.
Start with your capacity and build your list of people from there. Who will be the most impactful people to talk to in your limited time?
You can always grow your capacity.
You can grow your team.
Unless the giving is not going up.
As the leader, your focus is on increasing the total giving dollar. Capacity issues can be addressed over time.
When you shift your focus, you don’t drop donors forever. You’ve worked hard and built a relationship with them. That counts for something! The relationship, like so many others in life, evolves.
Consider, too, that by stepping back to work with others, you are allowing donors to get to know other stakeholders who are vital to your mission, which ultimately strengthens their connection to your vision.
To maximize your capacity, try this framework:
Determine three people to spend time with face-to-face.
Look over your follow-up list and determine your point of view on where you’re trying to take these people.
Establish the POV.
What areas do you feel like they’re starting to grow into? You should have a viewpoint on guiding them through a decision-making process. That doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll give them a specific number, but you have a point of view you’re praying about.
Clarify the destination.
You have something in mind that you’re moving toward with each donor and potential donor, and if that isn’t clear, then they may not need to be on the list. You might say, “Well, I know there’s something there, but this will take a second visit to start getting a handle on it.”
People are not dropping off the face of the planet.
You’ll catch them in your advancement planning when you look through the lists: who are donors to retain, who are donors to regain, who have we regained, and who are we focused on recruiting?
You’ll catch them at the proper planning stage; it’s not like you’ve lost or put them down forever.
You’re just saying, “I’ve got to move this person off my plate for this season,” hopefully, you’re moving them onto somebody else’s plate in someone else’s process.
I look forward to hearing how this applies to your team and your process of creating better systems. Keep moving forward!
This is the third article in a series “Work Smarter, Not Harder.” Click here to review article #1 and article #2 in this series.
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