How Setting Goals Helps You Raise More Money and So Much More

The end of the year is always a good time to reflect on the year that’s ending, and look forward to the New Year that’s about the begin.

It’s a time when many people make resolutions. Sadly, most resolutions are broken before you can drive to the gym to get some use out of your new membership.

So the question is this:

How can you set goals (or resolutions) and actually keep them?

Repetition is the Key to Achieving Goals

Most goals are achieved by doing a repetitive action. For example:

• If your goal is to lose weight, the repetitive action is going to the gym and eating less.
• If your goal is running a marathon, then you will need to run several times per week to build up your endurance and stamina.
• If your goal is to get to Carnegie hall, then you will practice, practice, practice.

You get the picture.

In other words, you need to build a new habit to help you do something, even when you don’t feel like it, to get to your goal. And experts recommend rewarding yourself after you take the repetitive action, until it becomes a habit — which means you do it without thinking about it.

For example, Olympic athletes don’t want to practice or work out every day, but they do it anyway. When they do, they may give themselves a “gold star” or some other small recognition for a job well done.

Make Your Goals SMART

I’m sure you’ve heard of “SMART” goals.

SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timebound.

When thinking of a goal, identify the associated repetitive tasks which are required to achieve that goal.

Before writing each of my books, “writing a book” was my goal. I read somewhere that if I just wrote one page per day, at the end of a year, I’d have a 365 page book. I took it to heart, because it was specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timebound.

In other words, it was something I could actually do. And, since none of my books are even close to 365 pages, I had each of my books written in less than a year.

Putting SMART goals into practice

Here’s a post on how to set your major gift goal to get you started with setting SMART goals:

Precisely How to Determine and Calculate Your Major Gift Goal »

Also, a metrics worksheet to help you measure progress and stay on track:

9 Key Metrics Our Clients Use to Raise 4, 5, and 6-Figure Gifts »

Sample Goals: MY Goals for the Coming Year

To give you a better sense of how powerful goal-setting can be for you, here are some of my goals for this coming year:

1. Empower women fundraisers to become better askers by writing at least 20 blog posts and developing 2 new speeches addressing issues specific to women fundraisers.
2. Help at least 100 development directors lead successful, cost effective capital campaigns.
3. Help engage board members in major gift fundraising by facilitating at least 10 board retreats.
4. Laugh and play with my children for at least 30 uninterrupted minutes a day. (This is important, so it’s not just homework and chores after school every day.)
5. Walk for a minimum of 45 minutes every day with my dog for my mental and physical health. (Except in the pouring rain — wet dogs smell bad.)
6. Invest a minimum of 5% of my monthly earnings in a retirement plan.

It’s important to set goals for all areas of your life (not just fundraising goals).

Share your goals publicly and proudly

One of the most powerful tools for creating goals that stick is to write them down. Another is to share your ideas with others (so it’s embarrassing if you quit or fail). So above, I’ve put my biggest goals on record for you to see — and just by doing that, you can help keep me accountable.

Now it’s your turn. What are some of your goals? Please share them in the comments.