”This is what matters right now.”

Everything's connected.

Your membership programs. ⇒ Your policies and procedures. ⇒ Your CRM data and features. ⇒ Your staff training. ⇒ How your staff feel about their work. ⇒ How they interact with your constituents. ⇒ How your constituents feel about your organization. ⇒ How likely they are to give more next year or renew their membership or tell their friends about your work.

On and on. The hip bone's connected to the thigh bone.

This can lend itself to chaos, or to clarity.

When you can't separate the components and consider them one by one,
or you can't prioritize the one or two most important elements,
it all goes into a mush,
and you can feel like you're living in chaos:
”Where do I even start?”

But when you can carve out a moment
to consider what really matters,
to you, to your mission, to your constituents,
you can start to find clarity:
”This is what matters right now.”

If we can agree that shiny new tools don't automatically make your life easier, then we can ask: What does?

For the nonprofit leaders I work with, it's usually this:

• Understanding your real priorities.

• Remembering that your stress level impacts that of your staff, which impacts that of your constituents.

• Simplifying your processes to something everyone understands.

Of course, it doesn't all have to be perfect.

But it helps a lot to know you’re picking the right battles.

All the best,
A.