As the leaves fall and the air cools, you hunker down to do some massive work before the year-end finish line. Where have you been for the last nine months? Presumably you’ve been cocooned in your office, pushing files around, putting out fires and hoping the Appeal Letter explodes beyond a 2% response rate.

There are all kinds of reasons part of you dreads the coming year end. You know the reality. Shortfall. The word that sums up where you know you’re headed. Again. That’s a way of life in most small shops. Shrinking bank accounts and no money for your dreams. Maybe you’ve even abandoned your dreams.

In most small shops the money is tight, the volunteers are weary and there’s not enough staff. While you hunker down and stare at your desk, just outside your office the world is different. It’s all right there on your doorstep, waiting for you to get in the game.

Here’s what’s happening just around the corner:

– New, short-term charities are popping up
– Non-profits are getting together and merging
– Charities are shifting to new ways of getting money (earned revenue, lotteries and social enterprise)

You have a choice. You can stay in “woe is me mode” with all your reasons why you can’t live your dream. Or you can step up and play a bigger game. One you are willing to win OR lose. Unless you play the game, you have no chance of winning it. I invite you to play the game to win or lose. The problem isn’t a shortage of staff and no money. The problem is that you are not willing to lose.

You can certainly hold tight to all the reasons why you’re a struggling small shop – hard to raise money, no new board members, can’t keep fundraising staff, burned out. Is that really what you want to do?