What part of "no" don’t you understand?

What is every toddler's favorite word? I'll give you a hint. It has two letters and begins with "n." "Time for bed, Eva!" "Nooooooo," she said insistently last night, catapulting herself across our bed to escape my reach. "Nooooo!"

It's really too bad that we don't carry a little bit of that toddler "no" instinct into adulthood when it comes to demands on our volunteer time and our charitable dollars. We spend so much energy regretting commitments that aren't our passion and then figuring out clever ways to turn an already-out-there "yes" into a "no."

My friend and colleague, Roxie Jerde, reminded us all at a management team meeting last week that we need to ask ourselves what we are saying "no" to when we say "yes" to something else. This is so true!

Fortunately, when it comes to charitable giving priorities, the Community Foundation can help! Roxie and her team have developed a nifty tool called the Charitable Investment Review that can help you diagnose a few "yes" investments that should have been "no" investments . . . . and vice versa! We all want to make a difference with our time and money. And, as with anything worthwhile, that means saying "no" to some opportunities that don't have a direct impact on the results we want to achieve.

Does that sound good? YES!

Contact Roxie to learn more about the Charitable Investment Review.