{"id":10917,"date":"2020-01-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-03T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/?p=10917"},"modified":"2024-05-08T21:42:41","modified_gmt":"2024-05-08T21:42:41","slug":"fundraiser-habits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/blog\/fundraiser-habits\/","title":{"rendered":"Monday Mixtape 024: A Fundraiser’s Guide To Developing Good Habits & Focus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Monday Mixtape 024: Fundraiser Habits<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Here’s your Monday Mixtape, a weekly newsletter from CauseVox<\/a> designed to jumpstart your week, challenge your thinking, and inspire you to keep at it.<\/em><\/p>\n

Each week, we’ll hand-pick must-read articles, thinking, resources, and stories for nonprofit fundraisers and leaders and drop it in your inbox. Have suggestions or questions? Let us know at blog@causevox.com<\/a>. Enjoy this week’s Mixtape!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

If you succeed, it will probably have less to do with your luck, genius, or inherent specialness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s much more likely to depend on your habits<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Habits are the little actions we automatically do every day. For good or for ill, they determine whether or not we reach our goals, do what we truly want to do, and make the changes we want to make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know, I was hoping for some kind of magic, too, but this is actually kind of good news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It means that you don\u2019t need to be lucky, or a genius or extra-super-special to change your life, or your fundraising, for the better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You just have to build the right habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week, I\u2019m looking at how we choose, develop, and stick to our habits, and how they work. I\u2019d love to know which habits have helped your fundraising, and which habits you\u2019re trying to kick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enjoy this week’s mix!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s this week\u2019s mix:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”<\/em> \u2014Aristotle<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Track #1: Habits vs. Goals: A Look at the Benefits of a Systematic Approach Towards Life<\/a> by Shane Parrish at Farnam Street<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Goals are necessary, especially in fundraising, but setting a goal for a change is not the same as making that change. Habits are what makes change happen. In this piece, Shane makes the case for focusing on habits rather than goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By focusing on small daily habits, Shane suggests, you don\u2019t have to rely on external circumstances lining up just right or the endurance of your finite willpower. Instead, you\u2019ll transform the change into automatic behavior, and maybe even achieve more than a goal you\u2019d set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a great piece if you\u2019re facing a big goal, or want to make a significant change in your life. What kind of habits would support that change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Track #2: Focus–The One Thing That Will Ensure You Raise More This Year,<\/a> by Emily Hunsaker at CauseVox<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Do you pride yourself on your ability to multitask? Then you\u2019ll probably be as annoyed as I am to learn that, according to neuroscience, it doesn\u2019t actually work<\/a>. Unless one of those tasks is so well learned that it\u2019s automatic, and each of those tasks uses different processing centers in the brain, you can\u2019t really do two things at once.  Instead of dividing your focus between tasks simultaneously, what we call \u201cmultitasking\u201d is constantly interrupting your brain, which makes it harder to get things done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this piece, Emily looks deeper into the power of doing one thing at a time. She draws from experts to offer several strategies for narrowing your focus and outlines the benefits that focus offers. More time doing, less time deciding? Learning more and progressing more quickly? Building confidence and value? Sign me up!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to this analysis, Emily explores barriers to focus, which I think could be particularly helpful if you\u2019re caught in a multitasking trap. She follows up with tools to cultivate organizational focus and to lead the charge on becoming a more focused organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weekly Wow: How Look What SHE Did! Uses Peer-to-Peer & Women\u2019s History Month To Activate Their Community<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019ve worked for a charitable organization, then you know how hard it is to inspire and activate supporters to give to an established nonprofit, let alone one that\u2019s in its early stages. Fundraising is usually one of the major challenges startup nonprofits face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Look What SHE Did!<\/a>, a 501(c)3 organization committed to telling stories with amazing women, about amazing women, found that peer-to-peer fundraising<\/a> was a phenomenal, effective means to rally a new community of supporters and fund their worthwhile efforts. Incredible!! ????<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read their story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Track #3: The Three R\u2019s of Habit Change: How to Start New Habits That Actually Stick<\/a> by James Clear<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Okay, okay, so good habits are important. How do we actually create them, though? Anyone who\u2019s ever made a New Year\u2019s resolution can tell you that habit formation is tricky business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James Clear examines the structure of habits and how they work. He divides the structure into three R\u2019s: Reminder, Routine, and Reward. By approaching the three R\u2019s intentionally as you build your habit, you can make them more likely to stick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This makes a lot of sense to me. If I wanted to start calling donors more, I might structure my new habit to be: turn on my computer (reminder), make one phone call (routine), and then pour my coffee (reward). That feels a lot more doable than \u201ccall more donors,\u201d or even, \u201ccall one donor everyday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Track #4: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Fundraisers<\/a> by Joe Garecht at The Fundraising Authority<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re thinking all this habit information is going to be great for getting you to exercise, but won\u2019t necessarily improve your fundraising, check out this post for some inspiration Joe lists seven traits of effective fundraisers, and within those traits, you\u2019ll see the potential for habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joe notes that the best fundraisers he encounters: get on the phone, focus on metrics, ask for referrals, diversify revenue streams, strengthen their board, prioritize work with the highest reward, and practice their craft. You could choose to build a habit of asking every new person you meet if they\u2019ve ever served on a board, or checking your fundraising metrics at a specific time each week, or always starting your day with the highest value task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What fundraising habit to you want to develop?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bonus Track:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n