Time management is one of the hardest
parts of a fundraiser’s job… have you got it mastered?
It’s Monday morning, 9:00 am. You sit down at your desk, ready to tackle
the day. A coworker walks in and asks you about your weekend. You have a lot to
do today,
but you don’t want to be rude, so you talk to him. As you watch precious
minutes tick away on the clock, you think about how you promised your boss
you’d send her a draft of the first quarter appeal letter by the end of the
day. You think about the list of 32 donors that you still need to call and thank
for their recent gifts, and you remember that you really should schedule visits with those 10 potential new donors.
At 9:15 am you
finish the conversation with your coworker. Now you’re ready to get to work. You
open up your email. You have 24 new, unread messages.
By 10:30 am you’ve gotten through about half of the emails when another
coworker walks into your office and wants your opinion on an interaction she
just had with a donor. You want to help, so you listen.
The phone rings and you look down at the screen – how is it 10:50 am
already? It’s your boss on the phone. She wants to know how the first quarter
appeal letter is coming along. You had planned to work on it before your
meetings – which are from 11 am until 4 pm today – but it’s already almost 11 am
and you haven’t had a chance to work on it yet.
Your head starts swimming and your
heart races with with anxiety. How are you ever going to get all of this done?
The good news?
You’re not alone. One of the
hardest parts of being a fundraiser is managing your time.
The even better news?
I’ve got 5 time management tips
to share with you from a group of high-performing development officers and
consultants. Read on, my friends!
5
Time Management Tips for Development Officers
1. Prioritize. Make a plan and
stick to it. Your priority is your donor.
“We are distracted by what we consider to be urgent. And we are not
paying attention to the important stuff,” said one fundraising consultant. It’s
easy to get caught up in details, in the nitty-gritty. The solution? Make a
list of everything that you need to do. What tasks get you in front of or in
contact with your donors? Those tasks should take top priority. Create a to-do
list, with priority things on top, and be faithful to
that list. When distractions come up – and they always will – ask yourself, “Does
this really need to be addressed right now or can I deal with it later? Is
there someone else who can help with detailed administrative work?” Remind
yourself to zoom out every so often so that you don’t forget about the big
picture. Is what you’re working on right now getting you close to donors?
2. Turn your email off. No, really. Just turn it off.
When you’re working on a project and you really need to focus, turn
your email off. When you hear that “ding” or see that balloon pop up to tell
you that you’ve got mail, your brain can’t help but be distracted by it. Close
your email down. Instead, check it every 2-3 hours. This works with the phone
too. You don’t have to take every call. If a call isn’t urgent, don’t answer
it. You can call back later.
3. Do you really need to go to
that meeting?
If you work in fundraising, you have
to go to meetings. A lot of meetings. Remember your priorities. Ask yourself,
is this a meeting that I need to go to or is it a meeting that would be nice to
go to? If it’s not a mandatory meeting,
ask yourself what that meeting is going to provide you. Which is more important
in terms of bringing money in the door, attending the meeting or using the time
to do something else?
4. Your coworkers are going to
be attracted to your magnetic personality. Learn to work around it.
Whether it’s the Chatty Cathy that loves to stop by
every day after lunch to talk your ear off or the new hire you’re mentoring who
needs your advice, your coworkers are going to distract you. Fundraising is
about relationships, so you don’t want to be rude to your coworkers when you’re
swamped and don’t have time to give them. Instead, come into the office when
it’s quiet. “I come in early, before anybody else is here. When people are gone
from here, you can get a lot more done,” said one development officer. And it’s
OK to shut your door when you need be very focused in order to get something done. It is also good to make a specific
appointment for these chats. “I would love to talk with you about this. Can we
meet tomorrow at 10?”
5. Find what works best for you!
One of the fundraising professionals I spoke with liked to get outside
and take walks during particularly stressful times. He felt that it cleared his
mind and helped him find solutions to problems. Another fundraising professional
explained that he was a visual person and that having his tasks in front of him
– literally – worked for him: “When things are in a file drawer and I can't see
them, then these things don’t exist. Once I have finished a project, then I can
file it. At the end of the day, there should be fewer piles on my desk.”
Experiment with the way you manage your time and find what works best for you.
Still
feeling swamped? Contact Andrea today, and
she will help you.
Image credit: Copyright: <a href='http://www.123rf.com/profile_stillfx'> / 123RF Stock Photo</a>
