get out of the spreadsheet and into the conversation.

Let’s be real: calling a donor can be terrifying.

And I say this as someone who lives and breathes philanthropy. I love crafting strategies, analyzing data and sorting reports by last gift date. Give me a spreadsheet and a major gifts matrix, and I’ll disappear into a happy little bubble of color-coded comfort. It’s safe there. Predictable. No one’s going to surprise me, reject me, or ask a question I don’t know how to answer.

But I know that’s not where the magic happens.

The magic—the real transformation—happens outside the safety of your screen. It happens when you dial the number anyway. When your palms are sweating and your inner critic is screaming, “What if they’re annoyed? What if you say the wrong thing? What if they ask you something and you sound like an idiot?”

It happens when you risk the discomfort for the possibility of something real.

Here’s why the phone is so scary: it’s vulnerable.

When you send an email, you can wordsmith and backspace and draft and delay. When you pick up the phone, there’s nowhere to hide. It’s just you and another human being, in real time. No filter, no delete button. Just your voice, your tone, your authenticity.

And that’s exactly why it’s so powerful.

Every time I push myself to call a donor instead of send an email or bury myself in “strategic planning,” something good happens. Maybe it’s a warm conversation that deepens the relationship. Maybe it’s a surprise gift. Maybe it’s just the donor saying, “Thank you for calling—no one ever does anymore.”

Every time I get out of my comfort zone, I remember what this work is really about: connection.

Let me say this clearly—safe work isn’t bad work. We need our budgets, our plans, our databases. But too often we hide in them. We convince ourselves we’re being productive, when oftentimes, we’re just avoiding the thing that feels risky: the ask, the conversation, the relationship-building.

But if you want to grow your donor program—if you want to move people, upgrade them, engage them—you’ve got to step out of the spreadsheet and into the conversation.

Yes, it’s scary. Yes, it’s awkward. But you’ll survive it. And more than that—you’ll thrive in it. Because growth doesn’t happen in comfort. It happens in the reach, in the stretch, in the voice that cracks as you say, “I wanted to thank you personally for your gift—and ask if we could talk more about what inspired it.”

That’s where the best stuff lives.

So here’s your nudge: stop tweaking that slide deck. Put the report down. Walk away from the safety of the to-do list and dial the number.

The good stuff is waiting for you—just outside your comfort zone.

Now go make that call.