Part Two — Productive time management is nowhere more problematic than in the ongoing cycle of staff turn-over I have witnessed for nearly three decades in not-for-profit development work. There are clear reasons the average time-on-job for a frontline fundraiser still averages barely 24 months. Foremost among them is a lack of proper initial and ongoing training. It affects staff motivation, morale, and money check here raised. And that gets us right back to what’s most important.
During my career the best on-boarding experience I ever had was at a major research university where I was handed a three ring binder of policies and procedures, given access to the computer system and my portfolio of 150 names, and “encouraged” to get out of the office and reach my fundraising goals. And that was the best . . .
My great take-away, after 27 years in the field (some days it felt like the wilderness) is that preventive time management is the solution to ineffective time management. As the manager of frontline fundraisers would you prefer to invest time in orientation and training or in counseling and re-hiring?