The Summer Pull-Up - What To Start TODAY
Yesterday I had a lunch meeting where I was pitching a client on my services. After ordering our kale and quinoa salads (I’m obsessed) and were getting to know one another a little better when I start to ask my questions, “Roughly how many donors would you say are in your pool?” or “What did you raise doing that?” or what would you need to raise by the end of the year to feel confident?”
To make a long story short - there was a lot of “I need to get back to you” answers.
A lot of times as fundraisers, we are running at fast speeds - like zooming. And I get it - you all are DOING THE WORK. Rarely have I seen it as a practice when fundraisers take a moment to pull-up on all the goals they set out at the start of their year. They stay on that treadmill, scared to come off, for fear of not reaching their revenue goals (aka being able to deliver their important programs).
It’s similar to checking your bank balance, right? Unless you are Beyonce, who likes to do that?
Well friends, I’m here to tell you: you don’t know, what you don’t know. And until you know your numbers, you are going to stay on your hamster wheel.
In my experience, the summer months can be a slower pace compared to the rest of the year. It can be the perfect time to do a pull-up to check in: A Summer Pull-Up!
“But Jess,” you might be saying. “What numbers do I even need to know? Where do I start?” And then I know for some of you, you are thinking: but I can’t do MATH!
You think I’d just leave you hanging? No way!
This week I’m excited to share our first ever, FREE Quick Start Guide to Analyzing Your Data. In this guide I will walk you through, step-by-step, the FIVE most important data points to analyze, how to calculate the numbers, examples of what the data could look like AND free resources that are plug and play - easy peasy.
Real talk: At the start of this year, I wrote out goals in four different categories for 2019: Career, Personal, My Marriage, and Health. I put them on a piece of paper that lives on my fridge so I have to see it every.single.day. To be honest - I’m behind. In all categories. Specifically and one most relevant here, I had a goal of hitting a 28% revenue increase over my 2018 numbers. This would have allowed me to (finally) break the six-figure glass ceiling by a decent amount of distance. And I’m not on pace to hit that goal. As hard as it was to see the numbers on paper, I realize that I still have 5.5 months to get it together or, I can re-adjust my goals based on what is realistic. Over the next week I’m going to put up a fresh mid-year goal sheet on my fridge.
Listen, you are doing yourself and your team a disservice by not being in control of your numbers. By shifting your mindset away from the fear of the unknown to the possibility of what can be done - you are already taking matters back into your own hands.
SO - I encourage you to try the Quick Start Guide (did I mention it’s totally free?). Learn your numbers, make or readjust your plan, and get to work. I promise, your motivation to kill it these next few months will skyrocket and your mental health will thank you.
xo,
