First Things First: Week One

The Golden Rule

A little more secret fundraising sauce: the Golden Rule.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Last time I checked, gratitude is the key to, well, basically all of life. Remember how your Mom made you write a thank-you note for a gift asap? It’s kind of like that.

You’ve just finished asking, inspiring, appealing, connecting, and then inviting some more. It’s time to say thank you.

Please do it now while the emotional energy of the campaign is still hanging in the air. It will mean so much more to your donor. Think of it as a hug in the moment of a happy exchange with a friend, as opposed to an awkward return a week later saying, “Hey can I give you a hug now for that sweet thing you said a month ago?” It’s not meaningless a month later, but it sure lacks something in the spontaneous emotional energy category.

For those of us entrusted with sacred gifts intended to do good, our break comes after the absolute MOST IMPORTANT part of fundraising: gratitude. Unless you’re cool with being an entitled ingrate—then go ahead and check out as soon as the cash hits the bank account. (I jest, I jest—risky, I know. We’re barely acquainted. :)

So plan your needed and deserved rest from the unrelenting pace of your year-end funding push for the 3rd week of January. Get all thank-you’s (to segmented lists, of course), victory emails, postcards, and tax receipts out the door—you will feel like a million bucks. And if you’ve been working with Zion Consulting, you probably raised a million too.

Happy Gratitude Month!

P.S. » My tribe who has subscribed to The Zion Model 52-week SMART Plan Playbook will find January Week One below. Week Two is coming FAST, so I wanted to ensure you got this right away. We will do a bit of double-time these first few weeks so that you have everything you need a week in advance. And if you need to schedule a private consultation,