Donor Stewardship and the Circus Act of Plate Spinning

How is donor stewardship like the circus act of plate spinning? How many plates can you effectively spin at once?  

Let's start with a growth mindset.  Consider that our common goal is to authentically increase meaningful relationships with a set of individuals and households in order to bring sustainable resources to our organization.

Once the number of relationships for which we are responsible reaches a certain number, the challenge of strengthening these relationships while maintaining a genuine connection grows more difficult.

Technology can help facilitate your ongoing cultivation, to be sure. But there will come a time where the portfolio grows too large and your organization risks the potential for those plates to spin out of control and crash to the floor, metaphorically speaking.

My advice is to be proactive. Get to know your organization's “sweet spot” range and respect these limits so that your contributors don't feel the "crash." this doesn’t mean you’re not continually aiming for growth – it means growing your internal capacity at the same time, so you’re not burning out, or burning bridges.  Get to know the economics of how far you can grow a portfolio before bringing someone else onto your team, whether that’s another full-time staff member, part-timer, or trained volunteer.

To see the world record plate spinner, The Great Davido, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC_Sff_iJ-A&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=DaveZoo