Exceeding an Enormous Goal!

I enthusiastically accepted a request to lead Comerica's Houston United Way campaign.  We first thought that we'd be asked to exceed last year's campaign by 10%, which was imminently doable. However, when we were asked to raise over $40,000 more than the previous year's campaign, I knew that creating a stellar team was the only way we could succeed (or exceed goals).

We realized that all of our colleagues were not familiar with the amazing impact of United Way and created 3 distinct Kick-Off events with speakers from United Way and community agencies. Knowing that every dollar we raise benefits 1 in 2 of our Houston residents creates a compelling case to participate.

This stellar team of committed leaders and engaged colleagues has exceeded our ambitious fund-raising goal!

Lessons reinforced by this experience are:

• education is a critical component for buy-in
• leading by example really matters
• individual requests for participation increase engagement
• creating an ambitious goal creates a rallying point for success
• asking a newbie to lead the charge allows new questions to be addressed