Bullets or “BS”
When you get into the thick of things within a fundraising campaign, do you want to base your strategy on fundamental campaign principles which have been proven over time—or do you want to be improvising and ‘winging your way’ through?
When your trustees want to know why you are asking them to take a certain approach, or when your campaign volunteers tell you that “we don’t do it like that around here,” or your campaign chairman says, “send me a box of your brochures, and I will take care of the solicitation,” are you well armed with reasons why things have to be done in a certain way?
I have been running successful campaigns and managing and supervising successful campaigns for twenty plus years. I know what works. Yet, that does not matter if I cannot communicate, persuade and convince my volunteers that things simply have to be done “in a certain way” if we are going to meet our ultimate potential (as in reach and exceed our fundraising goals).
My father was a musician—an excellent technical concert pianist and teacher. He knew that the right note, played in the right sequence, at the right pace sounds good to most people—but he also knew that if it was not played with a certain passion and attitude, it would not be the moving experience people seek to create. Things must be done “in a certain way.” Daddy was very exacting—in fact, I can hear him screaming at one of his pupils in my mind right now—as he was a demanding teacher who would not suffer foolishness or laziness easily or for long. Funny thing is—it was only the most capable and determined students who wanted to seek his guidance and help to refine their technique and develop their musical ‘signature.’
My mother, also a brilliant musician and excellent piano teacher, specialized in teaching those who were just learning the basics of keyboarding and theory. She was kind, patient and encouraging. But, she was just as demanding about one thing: Things need to be done “in a certain way.” I would come home from school each day and she would have an excited group of my classmates and familiar faces from school, surrounding her and learning that you can communicate so passionately with a piano, if you play it “in a certain way.”
The most prevalent message my parents left me with, outside of their love for God, and their love for me, was that I should always, always, always “do the right way.” If ever they called me to task, about anything, you can be assured it was something related to not only doing the right thing—but also doing things in the right way. What a blessing it was to me as a lesson for life, though at the time I always thought it was a real pain in the ‘you know what.’
In my effort to learn more about how to build and run a business, be a good father, husband and brother—I have taken a personal and professional journey of study and self-improvement. I have studied lots of books, magazines, newsletters and tapes, in addition to attending as many educational seminars as I could fit into my schedule. This journey, while it has taken a great deal of focus and effort, did not feel like work. I have been having fun, experimenting and becoming a better, more capable person.
I have been exposed to more good ideas in the past few years than in all of the rest of my life put together. I highly recommend it, as it is well worth the investment of time, money and effort. I believe everyone should be busy becoming the person they want to be—because who you are is going to determine what you do, and even more importantly—who you are is going to determine the way in which you do whatever it is you do.
There are two major lessons I have learned which seem to be so pervasive and important that they tend to dwarf any of the others.
- Whatever you focus on, center your thoughts upon and dwell upon—you will become.
- This might be better viewed as a corollary of number one, but it is simply this: If you can visualize a goal, and begin working towards it constructively and faithfully, you will find a way to achieve it.
The first premise is strategic, and the second is tactical and related to the first. When we set a goal, whether to get rich, become a doctor or a baseball star—we first must visualize it, and then set about finding a way to do whatever it is we have set as our goal. Because God has blessed us with a mind built for creative thinking, we immediately begin to study others who have done this and naturally we understand the value of emulating the behavior of those who have done it successfully before us.
In other words, we figure out what must be done, and even more importantly the way in which it must be done. Remember: like my parents taught me, you must “do the right way.” One of the best books I have studied along my journey is called “The Science of Getting Rich.” In it, the author, Wallace D. Wattles outlines a strategy which is completely dominated by the theory that you must do things “in a certain way.”
At National Philanthropy Day in Columbia, SC this past Tuesday, November 16th, I heard Frances Hesselbein, chairman of the Board of Governors of the Leader to Leader Institute (formerly the Peter Drucker Institute for leadership) speak about the non-profit sector. She says that Peter Drucker (who is now 95 years old) believes that the only way to redeem our society is through the voluntary sector, and so she is working to help build leaders and instill values in today’s non-profit leaders.
Interestingly enough, Ms. Hesselbein began her talk with a poem, which I have heard many times before, but whose origins are not known.
Be Careful
Be careful of your thoughts
for your thoughts become your words.
Be careful of your words
for your words become your actions.
Be careful of your actions
for your actions become your habits.
Be careful of your habits
for your habits become your character.
Be careful of your character
for your character becomes your destiny.~ Author Unknown
This poem speaks so well to both of the above mentioned truths, which I have noted during my intensive studies these past few years. They are simply these: What you think about—you become. And, if you harness this universal truth by visualizing what you want to become and by actively setting out on the journey—you will succeed beyond your wildest expectations.
These same principles are outlined in Earl Nightingales’ recording “The Strangest Secret.” They are affirmed in James Allen’s great work “As a Man Thinketh.” It is suggested in that very special speech called “Acres of Diamonds,” which was written by Russell Conwell, and delivered worldwide thousands of times, and the proceeds from which built Temple University. They are documented thoroughly in the book by Napoleon Hill, which was commissioned by Andrew Carnegie, and entitled “Think and Grow Rich.” These foundational messages are conveyed in Og Mandino’s moving title “The Greatest Salesman in the World.”
Would you be surprised to learn that this same universal truth is outlined in the Holy Bible, the Talmud and the Koran and every other major teaching of any religion of significance? Take then, these two great truths, and put them to work in your life today. As my good friend Jim Rohn says, “Don’t let the result of your learning be knowledge; let the result of your learning be action.” Act now! You can make it happen.