Fundraisers Feeling Burned by Market Drops? Jill Be Nimble

You may have heard this nursery rhyme: Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack jump over the candlestick. According to Wikipedia if you could jump a candlestick without being burned you would experience good luck.

Being nimble is on my mind as stock markets churn. You might be worried that the friction caused by that churning will burn a hole in your fundraising revenue.

It’s far too soon to tell if markets will continue to roil or to know what will transpire with the Coronavirus. What’s more all of this is taking place with the backdrop of a Presidential campaign in the U.S. and events such as Brexit in the U.K.

If you are wondering how to navigate times of tumult you might want to read Leading Through Change: 3 Facts and 1 Point to Ponder. In that piece I said that I believe that we struggle the most with unwelcome or unexpected change. It’s difficult to think about being nimble but is critical when the:

• Donor who we thought was going to make the lead campaign gift tells us that she now needs to wait until she knows when and where markets will settle and the
• Campaign was to go public in a few months.

What’s a professional to do? I suggest Jill be Nimble.

But what if being nimble doesn’t come easily? Is it possible to learn how to roll with the punches?

I believe that the ability to be nimble relates to our capacity to lead through change.

As this Fast Company article – Change or Die – indicates, it might not be easy to navigate change, but it can be done. Pulling from this article and others I offer three steps that I believe can help us be nimble and lead through changing times: 

1. Face your fear
2. Reframe the Situation (see Change or Die article)
3. Review Jim Collin’s book “Good to Great” (here’s a synopsis by Mr. Collins) or check out the work of Barbara Trautlein from Change Catalysts.

When I speak about change leadership I always find myself returning to the concept of resilience. If you haven’t read the book Grit: The Power and Passion of Perseverance you might review it or read Diane Coutu’s Harvard Business Review article How Resilience Works (May 2002).

I myself am a work in progress when it comes to leading through change and being resilient. Might you help me build my skills in this arena by answering this question:

• What books or articles have you read that have helped you to lead through change or become more resilient?

Here’s hoping you will share because we can all learn from one another.