When Darrien Garay, Senior Director of Development at Peconic Bay Medical Center, took the stage at AHP’s International Conference, he started with a grin and a gut punch. 

“One of my favorite quotes is, ‘everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face,’” he said, laughing. “That’s by the champ, Mike Tyson.” 

For Darrien, that quote was a lived reality. Half his team turned over in a single year. His goals didn’t shrink. His resources didn’t grow. “It wasn’t, ‘Oh, you’re 50% down, let’s lower your goals,’” he said. “That wasn’t a conversation we had.” 

So how do you lead through that kind of year: doing more with less without pushing your people past their limits?

Here are five pieces of advice from Darrien on how to keep your team thriving when the budget is tight and the mission is big. 

1. Redefine “Do More with Less” 

Darrien is the first to admit that the phrase itself can feel like a threat. “If you’re like me, and you hear ‘do more with less,’ you have a very visceral reaction to that,” he said. “You think, ‘Do you know how much we’re doing already?’” 

But he challenges fundraisers to reclaim the phrase. “Doing more with less is not burnout,” he said. “There is a way that we can do this that honors your team, honors your hospital, honors yourself, and honors the mission of what our industry is all about.” 

That mindset shift—viewing constraints as creative catalysts rather than punishments—became the foundation for everything else. “You might be surprised how much you can get from what you already have,” Darrien said. “And maybe even make a case for the growth that you’re going to need to do even more.” 

2. Build the Right Partnerships 

When your budget is thin, partnership is your greatest multiplier. “One of the most important things you can do when you have limited resources is to be very wise in the partnerships that you’re forming,” Darrien said. 

That meant rethinking who counted as a partner. At Peconic Bay, nurses and frontline staff became some of philanthropy’s most powerful allies. “If you’re not engaging with your nurses, your physical therapists, your environmental services staff, you’re missing opportunities,” he said. 

Darrien didn’t ask them to become fundraisers; he asked them to become connectors. Nurses wrote thank-you notes to donors. Clinicians joined donor meetings and cultivation events, not to make an ask, but to help donors see their gifts in action.  

Engaging clinicians in philanthropy also presented an opportunity to steward the clinicians themselves. “Clinicians hear process improvements all day long,” Darrien explained. “We can bring them encouragement: ‘You’re doing great. In fact, there are people who think you’re so great, they want to invest in you.’” 

That message changed everything. “A physician stopped me in the hallway after a joint presentation and said, ‘Darrien, I didn’t understand before what we were doing here. I’m so thankful that you invited me to philanthropy.’” 

That spirit extended beyond the hospital, to consultants and vendors. “We realized we were underutilizing [our partnership with marketing consultancy] Beth Interactive, because we weren't in a position to do all the innovation we had in mind,” Darrien said. “[To increase capacity on the internal team], we moved instead towards more automation and letting Beth’s team have more autonomy to do the things that they have expertise to do.” 

3. Know When to Let Go 

In small shops, the temptation to hang on to everything is strong. But Darrien insists that sometimes the smartest thing you can do is step back. 

He described mentoring his colleague, Jackie Doskoez, who now leads Peconic’s annual giving program. “She was doing better than I ever had,” he said. He realized that although the program had been his “baby” for eight years, he was no longer needed to run it effectively. 

That realization, hard for any leader, was liberating. “It took some humility,” he said. “But I had to focus on the things I was doing that only I could do. That meant handing things off to other people.” 

This decision freed up time for Darrien, and also for Jackie. "The value I was adding was so small, and it was slowing the entire process down unnecessarily.”  

4. Protect Your Culture and Your People 

Darrien is quick to remind leaders that culture isn’t a buzzword. Instead, it’s a speed limit. “The speed that your team is going to be able to accomplish things is limited by trust,” he said. 

At Peconic, they’ve built what he calls a “non-competitive culture.” The team celebrates shared goals, values collaboration over credit, and embraces failure as part of innovation.  

For example, Darrien once created a text-to-give campaign that flopped. “It was a failure, and we lost all the money we invested in it,” he said. “But my mentor just said, ‘Okay, you tried. It was a good idea.’” 

That grace made all the difference. “Two years later, I had the idea of using AI for the annual fund,” Darrien said. “If my mentor had come down hard on me, I don’t know if I would’ve had the courage to come forward with it.” 

5. Invest in Growth—Theirs and Yours 

“The greatest resources you have are the people that are already on your team,” Darrien said. “Leadership is not about being someone’s boss. To me, a good leader is someone who moves obstacles and helps team members see things about themselves they don’t currently see.” 

He tells his team often: “People live up to the identity that you give them.” That means recognizing potential, investing in professional development, and preparing staff for the future, especially as AI reshapes the sector.  

“Are you equipping your team to be AI-invulnerable?” he asked. “Because there are certain things AI won’t do. Are you developing those skills?” 

And he’s equally adamant that leaders must invest in themselves. “It’s hard to pour out of an empty cup,” he said.  

From Survival Mode to Sustainable Success 

In a year defined by disruption, Darrien’s team thrived. They stabilized their annual fund, launched six cultivation events, which alone raised over $300,000, and deepened community trust. 

“We’re not just looking to create a championship team for one year,” he said. “We’re looking to create a dynasty to win again and again.” 

That mindset—equal parts discipline, humility, and hope—is what makes Darrien’s advice so powerful for anyone leading through scarcity. You can do more with less. You can protect your people. And if you do it right, you might just build something that lasts.