I bet you made some new year’s resolutions, didn’t you?

That’s great!

I have an additional resolution to offer you:

Take a stand.

Just take a stand for what you believe in.

Just like that.

Draw a line in the sand and say to yourself, “I want to make a difference.”

And then say “I AM going to make a difference.”  (Isn’t that powerful!)

Because when you make a declaration that you are going to do this, something happens inside.

By “naming it” and “claiming it,” you start making it happen.

Think for a moment.

What really matters to you, anyway?

What urgently concerns you?

I hope it’s the cause you work for so hard.

Because if you are that concerned, then what are you going to do about it?

Remember Gandhi famously said:

Be the change you want to see in the world.

Can you become that change that you so urgently want to see? Can you actually embody that change?

If you want to make it happen, you need these three things along with you.

You need:

1.  Courage

My, oh my, but it’s easy to sit back and expect others to take the lead.

Isn’t it?

But what happens when no one steps up to the plate?

Or when your cause’s supporters lose sight of their goal, or they dissolve into petty bickering or competition?

Well, my friends – nonprofit staffers and board members alike – the world NEEDS more people to step up to the plate.

It takes gumption as we say in the south.

How do you muster up your courage?

You get over yourself.

You hold fast to your vision of what you are trying to accomplish.

You keep your goal firmly in sight and hold on to it tight.

Because if you are totally “possessed” by your goal, then you’ll forget your self consciousness.

I remember when I first started public speaking. I was absolutely scared to death.

Standing up there and looking at all those faces staring at me, expecting me to say something interesting –  it was enough to send panic thru every molecule in my body!

But then I remembered what I was speaking about, and how passionately I felt the need to communicate.

And somehow, I lifted up out of my fear and became in some way “possessed” by my energy, passion and my ideas. And they just spilled out of me then.

Bottom Line: If you hold fast to what you believe to be deeply true, you’ll find more courage than you ever thought you had.

2.  Enthusiasm

Ralph Waldo Emerson said “nothing great was achieved without enthusiasm.”

And I so believe this.

Because if you are enthusiastic, you have happy outgoing energy.

This energy is attractive.

It pulls people to you. It pulls supporters, dollars, connections.

All of a sudden people want to hang with you. Your cause’s bandwagon is growing. And growing.

If you are a group of people who are fired-up, enthusiastic, energetic – then you can do anything.

This is the energy that can change worlds.

Pump yourself up.

That’s why I always say that board meetings need to be terrific gatherings.

They need to be like cheerleading sessions. When you pull your team together, you’ve got to fire them up with energy and enthusiasm.

And you’ve got to do the same for yourself.

Get yourself in touch with what really matters to you, and what stand you are going to take.

You’ll be motivated enough to take on the world!

Bottom Line: Everything starts with energy. Make yours expansive and happy – and you’ll attract all sorts of help!

3.  Clarity.

If you want to change the world, and rally supporters to help you, then you need a very clear goal.

You need to know what you are trying to achieve.

• You need to know when you want it done.
• You need to know how much money you need to raise.
• You need to know what outcomes and results you are aiming to create.
• You need to know what it will take to get there.

You’ll never be successful if you don’t have a clear goal.

If you are raising money for your cause, then you’ve got to say: “ we need xx money in order to do yyy work.”

For example,

• We need to raise $100k in order to bring meals to 2000 elderly members of our community.
• We need $500k to build an orphanage in Africa.
• We need $50k to present a concert or a performance.

I don’t know why nonprofits are so reluctant to state how much money they need.

So many of my clients just say “we need as much money as we can raise.”

That’s fine, but it doesn’t grab donors. It’s not specific enough.

You need a clear goal.

Donors – especially these days – want to know how much help you need in order to accomplish your goals.

They aren’t messing around.

And they don’t like fuzziness.

If your message is muddled, you are not going to raise the money you need.

Bottom line: You’ll never get anywhere if you don’t know where you are going. Have a clear goal!

I hope these ideas help you fire up your board, your staff, and your supporters.

Remember how urgent this is. There’s no time to waste.

There’s too much at stake.

Don’t mess around. Go for it!

Did this resonate? Let me know with a comment!