“Espresso, Calendars, and Sticky Notes: These are just a few of my favourite issues!”
by Amy Lazoff, Director of Philanthropy & Group Relations, Fort Wayne Kids’s Zoo
There’s one factor I like about this time of 12 months that not everybody fairly understands – and that’s the sheer pleasure I expertise when selecting out a planner for subsequent 12 months. Sure, although my day by day schedule is digital, I nonetheless LOVE paper planner!
Once I open the duvet of my new planner annually and see the empty pages, my mind fills with concepts of all I’d like to perform. I like the thought of planning the work and dealing the plan. Because the chief of a small however mighty staff of fundraising professionals, who find yourself sporting a whole lot of hats all year long, my paper planner can be used as a management device.
All people will get to select a brand new planner
One of many duties I give to my whole staff is to select a planner that works for them. Some like month-to-month solely, some need month-to-month/weekly or day by day, and I simply need them to make use of no matter would be the most useful to how they work. Then we choose a day close to the top of the 12 months to fill them out. We name it our “Calendar Planning Day” and the primary 12 months I took my staff by means of the train it was somewhat overwhelming. Now, they stay up for it and are available ready with all their notes! Today is full of a whole lot of espresso, our calendars, and sticky notes of each colour.
Mapping out the 12 months
As soon as we’re completed, we’ve mapped out our whole 12 months. It helps my whole staff know what is going on with who and when. It helps spot any conflicts early on and ensure nothing huge is lacking. That is invaluable info to have when typically your job, as a pacesetter, is to maneuver on to plan b or pivot when surprising occasions threaten to derail your plans. Additionally it is a beneficial device to have as a co-worker, to know when somebody has a giant deadline developing so you may lend a serving to hand. It additionally prevents us from making an attempt to do too many huge or new issues all on the identical time. In any case, there are solely so many hours in a day!
For my staff it is usually a technique to take our annual fundraising and stewardship plans and lay them out differently, specializing in the duties that should be completed to realize our objectives. We additionally layer in board conferences, conferences, deliberate holidays, main grant deadlines, deliberate donor engagement actions, junk mail, particular occasions, and so on. in addition to all the larger duties related to holding these issues on observe. These duties vary from donor stories, to enchantment drafts, to print deadlines, linen and meals orders, volunteer coaching nights, when letters want up to date, and extra. It isn’t each process we do – removed from it, however it lays out the construction for our 12 months. Our planners assist us simply speak about our upcoming initiatives, wants, and recap of the hits and misses as a staff every week, and it additionally helps me put together for one-on-one conferences with every of my staff members.
This tactic could not work for each staff, however in the event you’re on the lookout for a greater technique to plan your work, and work your plan (or coordinate the chaos), give it a strive – what do it’s important to lose?
Amy Lazoff is Director of Philanthropy & Group Relations at Fort Wayne Kids’s Zoo and a licensed Quadrant 3 Management Coach. She leads a Nonprofit Academy coaching on planning referred to as “Plan the Work; Work the Plan.”
