If Everything Feels Important, You Haven't Made a Decision | Monthly Giving Year-End Plan

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This is one of those spur-of-the-moment Dana recordings where something was just on my mind and wanted to get it out in unedited version.
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And I went to the eye doctor this morning.
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And the reason this is really coming to you is because I had to get my eyes dilated for the first time.
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And I couldn't do any work.
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I couldn't do work.
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I couldn't read emails.
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Couldn't really see people on phone calls that I was having on Zoom earlier today.
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And so I was listening to a podcast episode I've been meaning to finish.
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And it was a podcast episode on the Aspire podcast by Emma Greed.
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She is the CEO and co-founder of Good American and a founding partner of Skims, co-founder of Safely.
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If you are familiar with any of these, these are very popular business ventures with members of the Kardashian family.
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And she's been very successful in fashion for a very long time.
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So Emma Greed, highly recommend.
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I think she's a boss.
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And she said two things.
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She basically, she turned 44.
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And in this birthday episode, she was giving some her 44 like lessons.
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And a couple stood out to me.
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One was if everything feels important, you haven't made a decision.
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I was like, oh God, that's good.
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Like that just that one kind of hit me.
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And then the second one was the work you avoid would probably change your life.
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Wow.
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Right.
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Number one, again, if everything feels important, you haven't made a decision.
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And number two, the work you avoid would probably change your life.
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And I kind of feel like these went together.
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And I haven't been stopping about hearing them.
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And they all kind of just a bunch of experiences I've had recently.
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I just felt like I wanted to come on here because this episode is kind of a spinoff of those two lines.
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Because as we step right now into October, it's the final quarter of the year.
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It is fall in Atlanta finally, the start of end of year, the really start of giving season.
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These felt hyper relevant to me.
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So I wanted to have a little tough love conversation today.
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And whether you have started monthly giving it or you are deep in it right now, this one's for you.
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And I'm giving tough love with a lot of love here.
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Um, I want you to really think about last year with me for a second.
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And I want to explain where I was last year, literally around this time in October.
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I was at the Sarkeys Foundation event in Oklahoma, and someone came up to me before I was about to speak saying they had my book, they had read my book, they were so excited about monthly giving, they were integrating it into their work.
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And I loved hearing that.
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So I asked her specifically, what are your end of year plans for monthly giving?
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And she paused and she said, you know what?
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We haven't actually embedded monthly giving into our year and asks at all.
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And I'm saying this now because I don't want this moment to hit for you.
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I don't want you to be looking back and come to this realization, woulda, coulda, should have, right?
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Like we still have time to do something about it.
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And I'm saying all of this because I have been in potentially your seat.
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Um, before I started this work, I was a director of development and marketing at a small nonprofit, a team of four.
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I remember sitting at my desk so carefully crafting emails, every word, every subject line.
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I would hit send, and then I would literally stand by waiting to see if donations would pour in, like refresh, refresh, refresh.
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And I'm sure I'm not alone in being the only person to do that.
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And if you've done it too, I understand.
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And what I was doing was I was emailing oftentimes the same group of people.
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I was hoping for the same result.
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I was hoping for a little spike, I was hoping for that one time bump.
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And it would feel really good when we would get those donations for a day or two, right?
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And then some weeks would go by, and then we're doing it all over again, right?
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I'm basically sending, I'm hoping the list is growing a little bit, and then I'm saying it out to the same people.
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Same kind of same type of ask, hoping for another like boop, like spike to come up.
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That was the cycle.
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That was what I was living in before starting all this work in monthly giving.
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Like ask, watch, hope, repeat, right?
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And probably what I was really hoping for was this like magic wand, the one email that would miraculously work.
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And the what I found out is there really is no magic wand.
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There's a decision.
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And that decision is what I want to help you replace that cycle with.
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And the number one reason that I hear that people have not started a monthly giving program, I've heard this over and over and over again, is time.
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Dana, we just don't have the time.
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And today, with so much respect and love, I'm gonna call a little bit BS on that.
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On not just you, but on past me too.
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Not because we're busy, we are, we all are.
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But we choose what we work on.
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I was spending hours on emails and we were working on direct mails, that led to another spike, a one-time spike.
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Instead of ever considering or building something that could create planning and growth and predictability and sustainability.
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So when we say I don't have time, what that often means is this actually isn't at the top of the list.
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And that's totally okay to admit.
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But then we have to be honest about what is at the top of the list.
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What is taking up your time that is keeping us busy?
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And recently someone had told me that, which was so kind to them.
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They're like, if if nonprofits have started growing and launching monthly giving programs over the past few years, it's likely because of your work, Dana, because of what you've put out in your book and the sum and all these things.
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And at first I was very flattered and I was like, thank you.
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And it was very lovely for them to say that.
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But then I thought, well, shoot, I am not doing nearly enough because across our sector, we're not seeing the growth we need to in net new recurring donors, not even close.
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So this tough love is equally for me too.
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There are many, many, many more organizations and the in the sector, I think overall is talking much more about monthly giving, totally.
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But talking about it is not the same as choosing it.
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There is still a massive gap between the organizations I see that lead with a recurring ask and the ones that put up the one-time option first.
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And I think this is what I wish I would have heard over a decade ago now, 15 years ago.
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Giving culture is a choice.
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We have to choose it, and then donors will follow.
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And I've literally seen this proof.
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I've seen organizations that actually make it harder to choose a one-time gift.
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They focus on recurring and shocker, their monthly giving program thrives and grows.
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And I think what also surprises people is when you lead with a recurring first ask, one-time gifts often go up too.
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Why?
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Because your language is different.
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It's bigger, it's invitational, it's transformational.
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You're not asking for a transaction.
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You're asking people to join something.
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And continuously, what's what's been funny is all year I keep hearing like, Dana, you must be killing it, crushing it, like lots of lovely, lovely accolades.
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And I am very grateful.
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But the only reason that people are saying that is because I've been so visible.
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I have been going to in-person events and I have been documenting them.
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And that's a very proactive strategy.
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And I want you to think about this in your daily life and what you're going through.
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I think this comes from my American Idol days as a digital producer where we literally documented and saved everything for the show, either for in the moment of recording something or when it was going to air.
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So some things I equally share in the moment, and some things I hold and I save and I share later.
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So I want you to start to ask yourself what can I share in this moment?
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What can I share after at a certain when I know this is going to be perfect to use?
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Because it creates this feeling of being seen everywhere.
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And it keeps me and therefore you, if you do this, top of mind.
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So this is all going to come together, I swear, in my stream of random consciousness here.
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When you're at meetings, at conferences, if you're traveling for something, document the process.
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How do you stay top of mind so that your supporters say, wow, they're everywhere.
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Look at all the work they're doing, like the incredible work they're doing.
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It's about visibility, and that helps get you in front of other new audiences.
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And I want to share an example, an awesome example.
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A couple of weeks ago, I was at Create and Cultivate.
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It is the largest festival for women in business.
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It's basically a women's entrepreneur conference that looks like a music festival.
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There's gorgeous activations, great speakers.
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I was very fortunate to speak on a panel as part of my Zoom Solopreneur 50 opportunity.
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And there was exactly one nonprofit activation at the event.
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I wrote about this on LinkedIn.
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It was St.
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Jude.
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I thought it was so brilliant.
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They had a booth and they gave away these cute little bandanas tied to the story of one of their patients who's also an artist.
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And when they scanned a QR code, they got your email address.
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And then you also, then you received your bandana.
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Now they weren't hoping or expecting donations on site, but donations came because they were there, because of the conversations.
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They built this in-person experience, they grew their visibility with an audience they wanted to reach.
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So the festival brought the audience and the energy, and Saint Jude put themselves right smack dab in the middle of a very viral moment in the female entrepreneur space.
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So, one question for you is where are you building awareness right now, leading up to your end?
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So that when your name pops up in someone's inboxes, supporting you is a clear choice.
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Oh, already heard about them, saw them recently.
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Wow, they're doing so much.
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Let me see what they're up to.
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And then designing for a monthly giving experience becomes a no-brainer.
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So my ask coming, bringing this all together is please don't let this end of year season go by without making monthly giving a core priority.
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I promise you, you will feel so different come January.
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And I do not mean sending one email with a monthly giving ask.
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That's it's not gonna cut it.
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It's not gonna give you the results that you want, your expectations.
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If you send one email and it doesn't work, and then you say, well, it didn't work, that's BS2 calling it.
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Think about how busy you are.
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How many emails do you miss?
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We can't send one email and say we gave it a shot.
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End of year, and this is where like my tough love is pumping out for you because I've seen it work when we put in the effort.
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End of year, donors are paying attention.
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So let's make it a season of monthly giving asks and not just a single send.
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Integrate it into your emails, make sure it's prominent on your donation page, in your stories, in thank yous.
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And if you're like, I'm doing this, Dana, I am focused on monthly giving.
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I've been listening, I got it.
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This is for you too.
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Because I think it's equally our duty as peers to encourage each other to work on this together.
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Encourage us.
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Like, remember the woman at the event I shared with you towards the beginning of this episode, she was so excited.
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She was doing the real work and still end of year somehow is slipping through.
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And it's because we're all busy.
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We have a bazillion things going on.
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So I want to invite you the next time you're in a conversation with another friend in this space, ask them, like, hey, what's your plan for end of year for monthly giving?
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How can we challenge the status quo?
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Have these conversations with each other?
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And maybe you can be the one that prevents that pause from happening.
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This is exactly why I had the sustain our Slack group.
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It's completely free.
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It's a place to share resources, share ideas.
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If you want a peer to bounce off plans, that's where you can go.
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Just head to positiveequation.com and click on resources and you'll see it.
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And then back to time, because this is kind of where all this came from.
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What can someone else do?
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What can you hand off to free up some space for yourself?
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Or what if it's somebody else who focuses on the monthly giving program?
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Because shoot, that could work too.
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It should not, does not all have to land on you, but it should be owned somewhere.
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So my challenge to consider as we're about to start a new month is three things.
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One, what's one thing that can be cut this week?
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Is it busy work?
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What's one thing that we can subtract from our time?
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Two, who can own monthly giving?
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If it's not you, who could it be?
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Who can you challenge on your board, on a committee, uh a volunteer, an ambassador?
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Who can help ramp it up just a little bit, just a little bit more than it was before?
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And three, start to put real blocks on your calendar in the next seven days to plan exactly where monthly giving shows up in your end-of-year plan.
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It doesn't need to be perfect.
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Never, never needs to be perfect, but we do need to choose if we're going to make a decision about how we want monthly giving to be integrated internally and then externally, are we calling people into it?
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And I know how hard you're working this season, and I remember working that hard too.
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And I'm just asking you to think about building something differently, to make a different decision this end of year.
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Are we going back to the very beginning?
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The two quotes if everything feels important, you haven't made a decision.
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If everything feels important, we haven't made a decision about what we're actually focused on.
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And the second quote was the work you avoid would probably change your life.
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Are you avoiding monthly giving?
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Could it change your life?
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Could it change the projection of the organization?
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Maybe.
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So can we do some of the work maybe we've been avoiding?
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And then tell me how it went.
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Okay, join us in the free sustainer Slack group, share your plan, ask questions, swap ideas.
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And then if you're ready to really stop standing by, if you're ready to start building a program that brings in supporters every month, if you want to framework, the monthly giving builder is here for you.
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I am announcing on this is for the podcast audience only.
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You can use a code MOVEMETS, like literally all capital movements.
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I'll put it in the show notes for 25% off the annual plan to get started.
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The link will be in the show notes.
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And as a bonus, on October 22nd, I am going to host a live coaching call for all monthly Giving Builder users.
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So if you join now, you can bring your questions, your end-of-year plan, and we will work on it together.
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I just want this to be as we head into this final quarter of the year, for nothing to hold us back, to take the action.
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And again, the work we avoid could probably change our life.
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And I am internalizing these for myself and felt it was worthwhile to share with you in this episode today.
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So I am so excited for what this season is going to bring.
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If in any way we can be supportive in the growth of monthly giving, I am so excited for you.
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And I wish Dana back in 2011, 2012 could be hearing this message to do things a little bit differently.
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So until then, keep building the movement.
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And for our official weekly episodes on Wednesday coming up this week, you're going to meet our final monthlies winner from this year, World Central Kitchen.
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And this episode on Wednesday is how their 80,000 Kitchen Corps members fund day zero disaster response.
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So you're in for a good one.
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I'll see you then.