Magnificent MGOs seem to have a certain “way” about them. When you are in the room with one, you know there is something very special about that person. This is why Richard and I, in about 10 minutes of conversation, know if an MGO is great or just average.
Two of the traits we almost always see in magnificent MGOs are a thirst for competition and a quality of restlessness. I put these together because they seem to go hand in hand.
Now, many colleagues and managers of magnificent MGOs look at competitiveness as a negative thing. “Hey, I only want team players on my staff. I don’t want my MGOs to be in competition with one another.” In some cases I can agree with this. I’ve seen some MGOs who are so overly competitive that they alienate the staff. And at times they can have problems with donors because they only go after the money.
Magnificent MGOs are not like this at all. Their competitive drive is what propels them to do all the right things with donors. They are driven to meet face to face with donors and develop relationships. They create incredible plans and follow through with them. They help colleagues become their best because competitive people want to go against the best.
A great MGO who has a healthy sense of competition is always driven to create an edge over others by providing outstanding donor service. They are always looking for ways to endear their donors to the organization. Good managers of magnificent MGOs know how to foster this competition through incentives that will inspire them to do even greater work.
Along with competitiveness, magnificent MGOs always seem to be restless. They are consistently looking for new ways to get to know donors through creative research, making connections with others and going above and beyond expectations.
I know an MGO who routinely goes to galas and events of other non-profits in her community specifically to bump into her donors. Not simply content to attend her own organization’s event, she says, “Jeff, you would not believe the amount of information I get about my donors by doing this. They love it that I’m at these events and they tell me all sorts of things about why they give, what they love about our organization, what they don’t like… it’s pure gold.”
This is an MGO who is restless. She is not sitting at her desk just Googling to get information on her donors. She is out there with her donors learning about them first-hand.
You can always tell if you’re with magnificent MGOs because their day is full. They have most of the day planned with donor meetings, calls, notes, research, information gathering, sending out updates on projects, talking to program people, meeting with other development staff, cutting out articles their donors are interested in reading, etc. They are in constant motion.
This doesn’t mean they can’t just relax and have fun, but it does mean that they take their job seriously and don’t waste time on office politics or bureaucracy. They get the job done and then figure out ways to work around all that stuff.
Competitiveness and Restlessness: traits we see in magnificent MGOs. Traits that propel an MGO to do great things.
Jeff
Series details:

Magnificent MGOs quality #1: Teamwork
Quality #2: A True Customer-service Mindset
Quality #3: Persistence and Patience
Quality #4: Planners!
Quality #5: Competitive and Restless
Quality #6: Brokers of Love and Joy