Organization, communication, continual learning make you a fundraiser

By Mazarine Treyz

So ... You’re a One-Person Shop

Lots of people ask me how they can do it all in a one-person fundraising shop. I am here to tell you there is no way you can get it all done. There’s really not. Something is going to fall by the wayside. It’s not going to get done, and you’re going to beat yourself up over it — which is ridiculous.

There’s no way you can be equally good at and enjoy doing all of these things:

Creating a fundraising plan
Getting people to throw house parties
Tabling at outreach events
Grants research
Grant writing
Appeals
E-newsletters
Marketing
Speaking engagements
Website updating
Coordinating volunteers
Recruiting volunteers
Major gifts
Capital campaigns
Volunteer appreciation
Encouraging board members to fundraise
Coordinating the gala/ auction, etc.
Getting sponsorships
Data entry of gifts
Thank-you letters
Surveying donors
Planned giving
Social media and blogging for your nonprofit
Getting media coverage for your nonprofit
Keeping on top of the latest developments in the fundraising field

It’s beyond your capabilities. Because you are one person and being asked to do five people’s jobs. There is no way you could actually get everything done that you are asked to do. Really.

So first of all, you need to push back and tell your boss, “There is no way I can keep up with multiple conflicting priorities. There is just no way this is going to happen. What you are asking for is for me to do every job badly, instead of one or two things well.”

Then tell her, “I feel best when I do these tasks (name the things you do well). You should maximize my time in the things I do well and pass off the things I don’t do as well to someone else.”

Second, you need to agitate immediately for the tools that will help you succeed. This means you need to create systems. What systems?

If you don’t have a fundraising plan yet, then you need to learn how to create a fundraising plan.
If you don’t have a donor database, then your nonprofit needs to budget to get you a donor database. (Excel is not a database.)
If you don’t have an e-newsletter yet, you need to get your nonprofit to budget for that e-newsletter.
If you don’t have marketing processes, then you need a Google spreadsheet that will help you put all of the marketing processes in one place, as well as a volunteer recruitment process.

If just looking at this list makes your head spin, and you are a one-person shop with too much to do but not enough money to hire a No. 2, you need real help, right now. Here’s how you can get some real help, even if you don’t have the budget to hire someone right now.

Sparked.com can help you do graphic design for your annual report, Twitter background and logo. It can also look over job descriptions for you and research other things for you. Here’s my post how I used it to make a logo for my nonprofit.
Fancyhands.com can do research tasks and make phone calls for you, such as researching sponsors for your next big event; researching who the cheapest printer is in your town; making phone calls to help your executive director get more speaking engagements; calling around to newspapers, radio stations and TV stations, asking if your nonprofit can announce its event or breaking news or get interviewed; and more. Try it.
Get some fundraising coaching. For six months, get a bit of direction and support as you deal with putting your systems in place so you don’t have to work so hard.
Finally, in order to not be a workaholic, you need to get outside — do your 40 hours and then go do something else.

The first three months are crucial in a new job. You are under intense scrutiny to perform, especially if you have a boss who doesn’t understand development. Square your shoulders, take a deep breath and learn to manage expectations.

First of all, get confident. Remember your skills stories. You are talented! You are a fast learner! You can do this! You can learn as quickly as you can by tapping in to organizational memory and finding development mentors. Get an early win. Under-promise and over-deliver. Talk with your boss about each aspect of your job, priorities and the resources you need. Get together a team of volunteers, interns and, if possible, other development professionals.

Then, get organized. You got the job — now there’s work to do! A lot of times there is so much to do, it’s hard to know where to begin. The book “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity” by David Allen is a good resource to start clearing the mental and physical clutter.

Tired of coming to the end of the day and feeling like you didn’t accomplish anything? Here’s how to ensure you manage your day as it progresses. Write the answers to these questions each morning before you begin work.

What will I concentrate on today?
What must I do today?
How can I make this easier for myself?
What needs to come first?
What next?
What events might prevent me from doing this?
How can I best anticipate these?
What else?

You can also make a diagram, like the one shown to the right. What is urgent and important? What is important but not urgent? Unimportant and urgent? Not urgent and not important? Separate out your tasks.

Write down all of the things you have to do. Everything. Even nonwork-related things. Just get it all out on paper.
Separate personal and work-related to-dos into two lists.
Separate specific actions and projects (requiring three or more specific actions).
Using the principle of the assembly line, divide your work so it can all be accomplished with the least amount of distraction and highest efficiency.
Break up your day into five mini-days. For example:

8 a.m. to 10 a.m.: Write marketing copy for appeal letters, website or other PR tools.
10 a.m. to noon: Make phone calls to donors.
Noon to 2 p.m.: Lunch and meet with colleagues/mentors.
2 p.m. to 4 p.m.: Research grants.
4 p.m. to 5 p.m.: Answer e-mails.

What do you need?
Figure out what you need to be successful. This is the beginning of your development plan. Do you need a second person to help you? Do you need an events consultant? Do you need an approved marketing budget? Do you need more priorities set from your boss? Do you need a higher ratio of compliments to criticisms? Do you need your boss to meet with you weekly? Monthly? What’s your communication style? Do you prefer e-mail? Telephone? In-person?

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So ... You're a Fundraiser!