A Better Giving Tuesday, Part 5 - Unleash Team Potential

Planning a year-end fundraising campaign is always strenuous – there's a lot of work to do at the end of the year, right at the time that your team needs the most rest. 

This year, the stress is higher than ever. Teams have been pushed to "pivot," course-correct, change, adapt, and cope more than ever before. So how do you inspire them for the most critical campaign of the year?

In part five of our six-part series, we tackle how to re-engage a team that is ready for a break. 

Challenge 5:
Our team is totally spent. How do I rally them around planning another campaign?

Recommendation:
Unleash Team Potential

The Details:
We get the best out of our team members when we harness their whole selves. After the year we’ve all lived through, a lot of people don’t have gas in the tank for the end-of-year sprint. If you prioritize your team’s wellbeing, it will pay you back in spades. Make sure you give them time to rest and recharge before asking them to take on another sprint.

First Steps:

1. Set reasonable work expectations for your team. Consider putting “shifts” in place to ensure team members take a break. Make it clear that stepping away is okay.
2. Gather the team together and discuss what has worked and what hasn’t. Celebrating the wins you’ve created can do wonders for motivation into the fall. 
3. Create a set of weekly thank-yous and internal gratitude events to keep your team refreshed and recognized.

Your Giving Tuesday campaign doesn't have to be a forced march. Spending a bit of time to help people rest and recharge will open up much-needed creativity and new ideas. It may not feel like you have time, but taking a break now is much less costly than losing great team members to burn-out!

For more on this idea and our entire set of Giving Tuesday and year-end recommendations, be sure to download our free guide. Tomorrow we'll close the series with a few thoughts on better and more productive planning. See you then!