It’s easy to “keep score” in our field. We can track dollars raised, new donors acquired, donors retained, etc. But all of these are sort of rearview mirror, views of how you did in the past. Have you ever wondered where the windshield is?
In Jeffrey Fox’s idea in How To Be a Rainmaker of a point system for each day seems like a great candidate. This chapter was a special bonus–a free prize inside–when I read this book.
Fox recommends this point system:
1 point: Getting a lead, a referral, an introduction to a decision maker
2 points: Getting an appointment to meet the decision maker
3 points: Meeting the decision maker face-to-face
4 points: Getting a commitment to a close (a donation) or to an action that directly leads to a close.
His suggestion: work each day to get four points.
What if you started each day with this system as your windshield? Can you see how this could help focus your fundraising? None of these activities is wasted time. Each of these activities gets you to a face-to-face meeting. Each one leads you closer to a gift.
You’ll always have to process mail and other things that seem like time wasters. But what if you committed from now to the end of the calendar year to making each day a four point day?
