KEEPING ON TRACK

My very first job in fundraising threw me directly into the fire.  My boss on my very first day informed me that he was taking 3 months off—effective the next morning.  My co-workers had never been encouraged to become a team, and so getting them to even tell me where the closest rest room was had been a challenge.  And my predecessor, gone from the job for more than half a year, did not document anything she had done, been doing, thought about doing.  Or if she had, she didn’t leave that information behind.

 On the plus side, with my boss gone and my colleagues apparently ignoring each other and me, I probably had a good three months to muddle through and figure things out before anyone noticed I hadn’t a clue what I was supposed to be doing.

 I muddled through, but not before I made a commitment to document the things that would matter should I be gone and not have a chance to talk with whoever was taking my place.

There was the obvious—where I kept the IRS letter, copies of audited financials, etc.  And then the arguably more important stuff.  Contact or call reports, so whoever would know what was happening with a prospect or donor and what I thought my next steps would be.  Prospect lists—who I was thinking about or working with, why they caught my attention, what I envisioned.

 The longer I worked in fundraising, the more I realized that while I was thinking about the next person, the more I understood how this documenting actually helped me to be more successful.  I had clarity about what I was doing, why I was doing it, and what I needed to be thinking about next.

 Alas, as I moved more into management and did less and less fundraising, I didn’t carry forward with my documentation.  It was a big mistake.  Too often I would drop a ball or several, and too often felt that I was flailing because I did not have a sense of where I was.

When I started consulting, I quickly realized that I not only had too many balls in the air, but many were of different sizes and shapes and purposes.  My clients were unique—each and every one of them—and I really needed to understand what I was doing, when and with whom.  

 At first I kept a flip chart, with my active clients, outstanding proposals, and upcoming workshops, along with next steps, sitting my desk.  That was great for the big picture, but on a day to basis, it wasn’t all that helpful.  I tried many things and finally came to a simple solution.

 Today I still have a big picture in my office—on a whiteboard not a flip chart.  And then on my desk I have my three-day to do list.  It is very granular and specific.  As I consider what I have to accomplish for each client, prospect, workshop, project, I think is small steps.  This is especially good if you, like me, has the attention span of a newt.  Thinking small allows me to jump from thing to thing but actually accomplish a lot!  On my to do list, therefore, I have the things that must or can be done within the next three days.  I add things as needed. When new thing come up—a new client, prospect, etc., I add that to my board with a one word or sentence overview, and then drill down.

 I also use my calendar—a lot.  I am often calendar challenged but that is mainly because too often I neglect to add appointments when I should.  But I am really excellent at putting in deadlines and adding tasks.  

 These three things help to keep my on top of it all—and would help anyone coming in after me to understand what I am working on and what needs to happen next.