Tactical Thursday - Two Days. One Win.
Fight the Resistance and Make the Call.
You’ve still got Thursday and Friday.
Two days. That’s enough to win the week — if you fight the resistance that’s already telling you not to pick up the phone.
The resistance is loud right now. It sounds like your inbox. It sounds like the meeting you have at two. It sounds like every reasonable excuse to stay at your desk and stay comfortable.
Don’t listen to it. Pull out your 10-3-1 notepad.
If you’ve lost it, grab any piece of paper — the back of a budget report is fine. Write ten names at the top. These are ten people you could call right now. Donors, prospects, board members, major gift officers you’ve been meaning to get back to.
Ten names. Go.
Now look at that list. Circle three names.
These are your thank-you calls. Not a fundraising call.
Not a “just checking in” call with an agenda hiding behind it. A straight-up, no-ask, no-strings thank-you. You’re calling to say: the last thing you did mattered, and I wanted you to hear it from me directly.
Then look again. One name gets a meeting.
Not a phone call — a meeting.
In person, if you can swing it. Off-site if you need a different kind of conversation. Move whatever’s in the way. Block three hours. Three hours is not too much. Most leaders waste three hours before lunch on things that don’t move the needle.
The 10-3-1 Framework
10 — Names to call. Your shortlist of people worth your voice and your time. Don’t overthink the list. Write fast and trust your gut.
3 — Thank-you calls. No ask. Pick someone you know well, someone you barely know, and someone you talked to last week—all three. Do not skip the one you barely know.
1 — Meeting to book. The person is worth a face-to-face: one relationship, three hours, zero agenda except connection. Ask them to introduce you to a friend.
Resistance Is Coming. Here’s What It Sounds Like.
“I don’t have a specific ask — I shouldn’t call without one.”Call anyway.
“I don’t really know this donor that well.”Call anyway.
“I just talked to this person last week.”Call anyway.
“I don’t have a three-hour block free.”Move a meeting.
“I can’t focus here — too many interruptions.”Go off-site.
You don’t need a pitch. You need a presence.
Donors don’t remember the ask — they remember the leader who showed up.
The person you just talked to last week? They want to hear from you again. You made an impression. Follow it up while the conversation is still warm. Ask them to connect you to a friend — one person in their world who might care about the mission you carry.
That’s not pushy. That’s persistence and urgency.
The donor you barely know? Call and thank them for their last gift. You don’t need to know their whole story. You don’t need four talking points. You need thirty seconds of genuine gratitude and the willingness to listen when they respond. That’s it. That’s the whole call.
The meeting? Go off-site if the office will eat your focus. A coffee shop, a park bench, their office — doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re present, unhurried, and actually there.
No phone face down on the table. No “I’ve got to be back by noon” energy. Give your donors the rarest thing a nonprofit leader has: your undivided attention.
Thursday and Friday are not leftover days.
These are the days when most of your competition checks out. While they’re clearing their inbox and rescheduling things, you are fighting the resistance.
You are moving. You are calling. You are sitting across from someone who matters and telling them why the work is worth it.
The resistance will tell you to wait until next week. Don’t.
The notepad doesn’t lie. Ten names. Three calls. One meeting.
Two days. One win.
Get after it.
Dave Sena writes about nonprofit leadership at BoldLeading.com. The Bold Bulletin is published weekly for mission-driven leaders who want to lead with more clarity, courage, and staying power.