Reflections on Generosity for Capital Campaigns
Kick off your week with a 5-minute reflection on generosity to ground yourself in the right mindset for capital campaigns. Each reflection includes a question to ponder throughout the week to aid your work.
Reflections on Generosity for Capital Campaigns
151: Developing Discipline - Prioritizing Tasks
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"...This we must shed; this we must cast away, or else remain in misery..."
In this second episode in our series on developing discipline, we are discussing the the effects of indecision and procrastination and the necessity of prioritizing the essential tasks of a capital campaign. This week, I’m reading the words of Cicero as weaved through several of his works, published between 89 BC and 43 BC.
Reflection questions:
- What are the obstacles to completing your campaign tasks?
- Which discipline do you need to develop to prioritize campaign tasks?
Reflection on quote:
Why does it become so hard to stay disciplined in contacting potential and current donors during a capital campaign? To pick up the phone? To schedule the meeting? To follow up after the meeting? To write the thank you note?
Perhaps we don’t know what to say. To which the discipline for indecision is to accept something said is better than nothing said. Perhaps, we are distressed from a past bad experience with a donor. To which the discipline is forgiveness of ourself or the other person. Perhaps, we are procrastinating and working on other urgent, more immediate tasks. To which the discipline is carve out time each day and prioritizing the campaign tasks. Otherwise, good and important tasks will steal the opportunities to move the capital campaign forward and keep us in distress.
Without these disciplines, our campaign can stall and in our small towns, the lack of momentum is noticeable. The good news is that you can start fresh today and cast away indecision, distress, and procrastination and replace it with confidence and generosity.
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Music credit: Woeisuhmebop
Welcome back. Every week we pause to reflect because capital campaigns, especially in small towns, aren't just about buildings and budgets. They're about people choosing to be generous. This podcast explores the beautiful space where generosity occurs through ancient and modern writings from all cultures and religions seeking deeper wisdom for capital campaign work in small towns. Whether you're just starting out or deep in the middle of a campaign, these five minute reflections will ground you, encourage you, and remind you why this work matters. Last week we discussed how capital campaigns are like riding a wild stallion without a saddle, and one key to success is developing discipline. In this second episode in our series on developing discipline, we are discussing the effects of indecision and procrastination and the necessity of prioritizing the essential tasks of a capital campaign. This week, I'm reading the words of Cicero as weaved through several of his works published between eighty-nine BC and forty-three BC. Quote Man is his own worst enemy. More is lost by indecision than wrong decision. Indecision is the thief of opportunity. It will steal you blind. Now, do you think this could possibly happen to a wise person to be subject to distress in this way? That is, to misery. For every emotion is a misery, but distress is a very torture chamber. Desire scalds us, wild delight makes us giddy, fear degrades us, but the effect of distress are worse. Gauntness, pain, depression, disfigurement. It eats away at the mind and in a word, destroys it. This we must shed. This we must cast away or else remain in misery. Unquote. Why does it become so hard to stay disciplined when contacting potential and current donors during a capital campaign? To pick up the phone, to schedule a meeting, to follow up after the meeting, to write the thank you note. Perhaps we don't know what to say. To which the discipline for indecision is to accept something said is better than nothing said. Perhaps we are distressed from a past experience with a donor, to which the discipline is forgiveness of ourself and the other person. Perhaps we are procrastinating and working on other urgent, more immediate tasks, to which the discipline is to carve out time each day and prioritize campaign tasks. Otherwise, good and important tasks will steal the opportunities to move the campaign forward and keep us in distress. Without these disciplines, our campaign can stall, and in our small towns, the lack of momentum is noticeable. The good news is that you can start fresh today and cast away indecision, distress, and procrastination and replace it with confidence and generosity. Let's reflect on two questions. What are the obstacles in completing your campaign tasks? Which discipline do you need to develop to prioritize these campaign tasks? Share this podcast if you enjoy these five minute reflections and subscribe to receive these reflections released every week. To explore small town capital campaign coaching deeper, visit serving nonprofits.com. See you next week.
