Jack Eason ” That Idea Didn’t Work”
Once again this past week I spoke with another non-profit leader who needed help with their ministry when it comes to donor development and funding. It happened to be a Christian radio station. As I talked with the leader of the organization and asked what things they had done, I heard them run through the list of things (some good strategies and some maybe not so good) and after listing each item say “and that idea didn’t work.”
After waiting for them to take a breath and finally ask, “what would you suggest?” I begin to run back through their list of items they had tried and I made this comment, “sometimes it’s not the idea, it’s the execution of the idea.” Many times organizations THINK they try an idea and determine that it is worthless when in reality it was the execution of the idea that wasn’t what it needed to be.
It reminds me when I was young and was working at a local fast food place as a teenager. The manager had given me my list of closing duties to do, ie, sweeping the floor. Like most teens, perhaps, I gave some broad strokes to the kitchen area and put the broom away thinking I had completed the task only to have him come back and point out several places where I had left food crumbs on the floor. In my. mind, I had done what I needed to do, but not very well according to him. And rightly so.
I see the same things with our efforts at Christian radio. Do we really desire to do things well? Do we want to execute those ideas with passion and excellence? I can send out a donor letter each month (that’s a good idea, by the way), but if I want a return, I need to execute the idea with excellence and with the proper “ingredients” in the letter.
Some of us should go back and look at ideas that we have put in the “DIDN’T WORK” category and examine if the issue was that we failed to properly execute the idea. In this day, loving on and super serving our partners is not an option if we are going to grow our ministries. We can pound the proverbial pulpit and say to ourselves, “listeners should support us because we play Christian music and serve the community,” but that’s not going to change our revenue unless we execute the idea with excellence. What do you think? I’d love to hear from you.
Jack Eason is the President of The Heart Share Group, an organization dedicated to helping organizations reach their full potential through leadership development, brand development, and partnership development. Heart Share serves Christian radio through donor development strategies, fundraising initiatives (including on-air campaigns and major donor support), and creative partnerships. Contact Jack at jack@theheartsharegroup.com…