THE BACK BURNER

 

Endowment, stewardship, and relationship development are fundraising tasks all too often placed on the dreaded back burner. We all have one: the place where the really critical tasks go to simmer and eventually dry up and die.

There’s an antidote to the back burner syndrome – a tried and true model to make sure the really critical tasks are front and center. 

 

back-burner-graphic-488x500

 

Yes, you can see this scrap is cut from a magazine. I cut it out some 10+ years ago and it’s truer today than even back then. Your life and your work are cut into four quadrants: Urgent / Not Important; Urgent/Important; Not Urgent / Important and Not Urgent / Not Important. Seems straightforward, right? Spend time on the Important two areas and the problem is solved.

Not so quick. An actual study shows that, on average, most of us spend the vast majority of our time in the Not Important / Urgent and Not Important / Not Urgent quadrants. Why? Because that’s where we are most comfortable (the easy stuff) or where the sense of urgency overrides the Not Important, i.e: “Hurry, we need help stuffing the gift bags for the golf tournament!”

Look at your own day. How often do you find yourself reading through emails of little-to-no importance? When do allow yourself to get off track with ad hoc questions and impromptu invitations? When you look at your watch – boom! The day has slipped by.

The solution? Take this chart and make it your own. As Bruce wrote last week, you’ve got to curate your life.

Start by scheduling your time. Make personal appointments with the Urgent/Important and Not Urgent / Important quadrants of your work life. Schedule those hours each week for personal donor calls. Set a routine time to write your hand-written thank you notes. Save the easiest stuff for the times of day when you’re tired and less likely to be productive. Commit to the time.

When you take charge of your own schedule and turn your calendar into all “Important,”  you will see the results.  And… so will others.

 

PS: Notice what quadrant all those meetings are in. Yep, you didn’t even have to look…

Posted by Danny Maier
Danny Maier

Written by Danny Maier

Dan Maier offers fundraising counsel and strategic management for local and national nonprofits, YMCAs, camps, medical and social service organizations. He offers invaluable support to clients and their volunteer leadership as they look to enhance their development campaigns, prepare for crisis communications, strengthen their boards and more.

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