Use the Power of 80/20 Right Now!
Whew! December 2020! You are in that crazy, exhilarating year-end time. Please don’t forget that I appreciate you! And, what you do to give your donors the chance to invest in your mission! We talk about major gifts transforming our organizations…think about it. Really your donors are transformed by giving to you! What noble work!
Ok now, remember, more than 30% of individual gifts are made during December many on the final 3 days of the year! Last year, $92,898,000,000 was given by individual donors in DECEMBER. Yep – that’s right now and that’s a big number. And YOUR donors are in this December group!
What is the 80/20 Rule and could it actually make 80% of your work this month disappear?
Vilfredo Federico Damaso Pareto was born in Italy in 1848. Legend has it he observed a lot. He thought about wealth and discovered that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by just 20% of the population. He investigated different industries and found that 80% of production typically came from just 20% of the companies. The generalization became 80% of results will come from just 20% of the action.
For you this means that 80% of your year-end gifts will come from 20% of your donors. So here’s the deal – spend most of your time this month asking, “Who are the donors who have the most ability to give and have the deepest beliefs in what we do?” Then ask them, “May I help you accomplish giving plans you may have for us prior to the end of this year?”
Simple to get this conversation started.
It means you have to give up doing 80% of what isn’t giving you results, and, if you’re like me, you love doing some of those things too! But, truly, about 20% of my shoes end up on my feet most (is it 80%?) of the time. Click here for a worksheet of 80/20 examples and start making some 80-20 changes!
What if, by simply changing one belief your whole world could change? Instead of trying to do the impossible, an 80/20 approach is to truly understand which donors are most important to see right now. And I kinda suspect you already know who they are.
Wishing you a bright, beautiful and 20% focused December!
Invest in JOY!
