Have you ever noticed that the more you learn about something, the less you realize you actually know? That the deeper you go down the rabbit hole, the deeper the rabbit hole gets?

This phenomenon of early overconfidence, followed by self-doubt, and eventually by mastery and humility has been studied, and it has a name – The Dunning-Kruger Effect:

I’m a dad now of two young ladies, ages 14 and 11 – Paige and Emma. I find myself asking more and more – are we teaching our children to be generous? Am I teaching my children to be generous?

Some days, I’m afraid the answer is an unconscious “no.”

Cumulatively, I’ve spent thousands of hours working on, studying, implementing, and speaking about recurring giving.

Today, let’s look at ten of the most common mistakes leaders make when building and growing their recurring giving programs.

In honor of this milestone, I thought I’d share some things I’ve learned on this journey so far. Some of these insights are also relevant to leadership and being a good friend or colleague.