What systems you need for Q4
Have you set aside some time for development yet? I don’t just mean development in terms of fundraising. I mean developing your actual organization… I mean setting up systems and strategies to make this whole “nonprofit thing” easier on yourself and your team.
As EDs, we’re pretty used to burning ourselves out. And what’s the rush to get systems in place, isn’t that for after the New Year? After all—what’s another 3-4 months of mental gymnastics and sprints? No big deal right?
Wrong. I know carving time for planning is not an easy thing to do. Everything else feels so much more pressing than getting ahead. But your organization NEEDS YOU. Your organization depends on you to plan ahead and lead the ship in the right direction. And the best way to do that is with systems.
Today, we’re going to talk about the 3 systems you need in place in quarter 4. It’s not too late to get this thing right this year. So let’s dive in.
1. Content Creation
Have you started planning your content in advance? Do you have a content calendar yet?
What’s stopping you?
Sometimes I wonder if we’re so used to being too busy, we never stop to DO anything about it. Busy is our default. Feeling like you’re on the brim of a breakdown? Well, that’s the nature of running a nonprofit… Right?
I’m here to tell you no, actually. It’s NOT right.
It doesn’t make you a better ED to be doing all the things and barely keeping your head above water. You need some “floaties” to lean back on. So you can keep your endurance going and stop staying stuck in one place. (“Just keep swimming” like our fish friend Dory said).
Anyway, one such “floaty” is to start planning your content in advance.
Wouldn’t you breathe a little easier with your social media running pretty much on autopilot? How much more wiggle room would be in your schedule if you weren’t writing social content every day?
Content planning isn’t as impossible as it sounds. And the best part is: You don’t need your own social media manager to make it happen, either. I’ve got 3 resources just for you:
Make sure you listen to episode 22 for my favorite content planning tips.
Download my 30-day social media calendar
Grab 100 free nonprofit captions.
Steal my systems so you can breathe a breath of fresh air, knowing you’re showing up consistently with half the effort.
2. Steady Stewardship
Now, there are A LOT of stories we tell ourselves about stewardship. We get this voice in our heads telling us stewardship means….
Calling up strangers
Asking for money
Getting rejected
Then, inevitably… FAILING... or coming up short.
I think, for a lot of us, we avoid thinking about stewardship because there’s this invisible weight attached to it. We’re scared of failing so we keep our head down and focus only on the day ahead.
But guess what?
You are never going to get ahead of your stewardship, if you’re comfortable with stewardship staying stressful. After all: stressful means BUSY. Stressful means you’re DOING something. If stewardship were easy, would you even have a job?
Let’s cut the corn right there (okay you don’t really cut corn, but BFM and I are farmers and…. I said what I said). THE POINT IS: Having a system doesn’t make you any less of a leader.
Systems make you even more effective. Instead of using all this brain power on the details—like figuring out what steps you need to take after every donation or deciding how and when you need to make a phone call—you’ll have those decisions locked and loaded.
So figure out what happens when a new donation comes in. Who does what? What emails do you need to draft? To set up your stewardship system, you need to:
Know who your donors are
Create a communications plan for each set of donors
Set up automations with your donor management and email system
Draft thank you letter templates (I’ll put a link for my template in the show notes)
Delegate what you can
Find pieces of the puzzle that board members can take off of your plate. You may feel alone in this, but you don’t have to be.
3. Task Management
Quarter 4 is the time to get a handle on your task management.
Here’s what normally happens to the little tasks. They get pushed back, piled up, and sometimes even forgotten. Then you feel silly for forgetting them (or worse: you start kicking yourself for “never being enough” and the imposter syndrome cycle continues).
You’ll tell yourself “I’m going to write thank you notes this week”; but it just doesn’t happen. And suddenly it’s 10 PM on Sunday night and you’re panic-scribbling some notes; it’s half-hearted and rushed. (Not to mention, you’re hand writing notes at a time you should be RESTING).
Another thing we do is we keep pushing things to the last minute. Even though you know your board will want extra financial reports for the next meeting, you always wait until the last minute (or come VERY CLOSE to forgetting the reports altogether).
The problem with little tasks is they feel… little. Insignificant. Even when you know deep down they are actually really important. Here are some of the “little” things that need your attention:
Pulling monthly finance reports
Scheduling your social media and email content
Setting up donor calls
Updating your thank you letter process
This month, start planning for the little things. Block off an hour on Thursdays— or all Friday morning, Tuesday afternoon, whatever day works for you—and ONLY focus on the “tiny” administrative tasks. When random tasks come up throughout the week, jot the task down directly in your calendar (the event description is there for a reason). Or keep a running list in your project management tool (like Trello or Asana).
Instead of carrying a load of little tasks in your head wherever you go, create one designated spot with a list of all the things you need to do. Then when Thursday afternoon block comes around, you can head straight to your list instead of racking your brain for ideas on what to work on.
These next few months, carve out time to take care of the little tasks that often fall by the wayside.
Make things easier on yourself
Everything that comes with the last few months of the year usually brings stress. Your personal and work calendars are jam-packed enough to make you want to skip ahead to January. So start planning now to make things easier on yourself later.
It’s time to systematize and automate some of your processes so you can be a more present and effective leader.
