The least effective gift officer pays a lot of attention to the scoreboard. “How does it work?” “Are all the lightbulbs inside the scoreboard working properly?” “Are those lightbulbs the best colors?”
The average gift officer pays a lot of attention to the score. “I should get credit for that goal!” “The score doesn’t reflect how hard we played.” “If the weather hadn’t been so bad, our score would have been higher.”
But, the most effective gift officer pays a lot of attention to the play. “What skill development do I need to become even better?” “How can I prepare myself for any type of weather?” “What did I learn from my last outing that will help me in the future?”
Sports analogies aren’t always the most helpful for our advancement work, but this one does hit some helpful tones.
Similar to athletes, when gift officers focus on their “play” – their preparation, practices, effort, and strategies – it’s amazing how the score and scoreboard seem to work in their favor.
