Brain muscles

It’s amazing how tiring it can be to traverse up the steep slope of a learning curve. I was among several staff at The City Mission who participated in three days of training this week on an upgraded version of our donor software. I could feel my brain muscles working hard to stay attentive to the instructor and then to comprehend, to wrap my brain around what he was explaining.

Using the computer lab in our youth building, each of us worked at a computer station while the instructor walked us through the technical aspects of such things as data entry, reporting and security. Even though I am not directly involved in all of these things in my daily work, it’s helpful for me to know what’s involved. I took the approach that I always took in my college classes, to get as much out of it as I could. By the end of each day I was whooped. Even a coworker who just recently turned thirty told me today that her brain was “fried.”

With all the new things we learned this week, we will be able to more effectively manage relationships with our donors, now numbering about 40,000 in active status (including individuals, businesses, organizations, churches and foundations.) It’s all about respecting our donors’ wishes, letting them know how their support helps and showing appreciation for their partnership in our work.