Character in Fundraising - Principle Number Five: Efficiency
By Roger Richard Breault, MCS, CFRE
July 26, 2004
This is the fifth in a series of articles about the seven character
traits to develop to become an effective, productive, and authentic fundraiser.
It is written with the intent to fill a sizable gap in the formation and education
of those who want to be true fundraising professionals.
Have you ever wondered why the business of fundraising generates so much paperwork?
It's amazing isn't it? There are so many priorities, some things are urgent,
others are important and may not require immediate attention. The in-basket
climbs, and in spite of keeping a frenetic pace, you never diminish the volume
of work that needs to be accomplished.
The predictable questions arise. How efficient am I? Am I getting as much
done daily to keep the flow, and am I concentrating enough on planning and
organizing my work to meet future demands? Steven Covey offers an instructive
way to keep a healthy perspective on these matters. He asks us to keep a detached
attitude and to simply carve up our work and our personal objectives into
four quadrants. Take a look at your priorities. What's urgent, but not important?
What's urgent AND important? What's not urgent, but important? What's not
urgent and not important? The quadrant that demands the greatest emphasis
is obvious. It's the second quadrant. The trick is to spend most of your time
working on things that are BOTH urgent and important.
You might say: "Well that's all very fine, but how do I do it?" If you can
limit your busy work and concentrate on your daily plan, you will become more
efficient and productive in your work. Matters that are important but not
urgent - like strategic planning, research, major gift cultivation, planned
giving - get swept aside too often by tedious day-to-day routines. Budget
time daily for important priorities. If you need the time, take it. Don't
feel guilty about not answering every telephone call the moment it rings.
Eliminate useless meetings. Prepare for the meetings that you must attend.
Organize the ones that you chair. More significantly, allow yourself time
to do it. Organize your priorities daily by making a "to do" list the night
before. Use your peak performance times for creative work; place outgoing
calls all at once. Have a plan and stick to it.
Now what about that clutter of paper on your desk or in your in-basket? Here's
a practical tip I've used effectively. It works for me. It keeps in mind that
"in fundraising, timing isn't everything; it's the only thing". If you need
to accomplish a task on a certain day, mark it on your calendar, then take
all the paperwork associated with it and place it in an accordion-folder numbered
one to thirty-one for the day that you want to work on it. Wow! What a beautiful
way to eliminate desk clutter and systemize your work priorities. Some pundits
call this organized procrastination. I call it working intelligently!
Efficiency comes in many forms. It comes primarily from learning from what
others do well and emulating their good habits. It also comes from diligent
observation of what we seem to do inefficiently and making an effort NOT to
repeat the same mistakes. Take a hard look at what you do routinely with the
view of improving how much time it takes to get it done. It's astonishing
how much more you can get done daily when you put into practice this frame
of mind.
"By the yard it's hard, by the inch, it's a cinch." Concentrate on one thing
at a time. Fundraising is multi-tasking sometimes taken to the extreme. When
you use your power of focus to get something done, the task will not burden
you any longer than it deserves.
A Short List of Selected Readings on the Subject of Efficiency in Fundraising:
Do it Now, Overcome Procrastination by Dr. Jane Burka
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey
Super-Self by Charles Given
The Power of Focus by Les Hewitt
Giving it 110% by Mark McCormack
Roger Richard Breault has prepared the articles for the benefit and
the advancement of the profession. Roger has a Masters' Degree in Communication
Studies, and a CFRE accreditation. He is a dedicated reader and Manager of
Fund Raising Consultants of Alberta and the Speakers' Bureau of Alberta.
