Top 5 Weekly Calendar Blocks for Effective Fundraising

One of the best tricks of the trade for being a “small but mighty” fundraising staff is prioritizing staff time. Easier said than done? Maybe, but then again, maybe not.

We suggest blocking out time on your calendar each week for specific areas of your role. If this is difficult, start with one hour for each. That’s five hours total of the minimum forty hours a week you’re dedicating to your mission. Doable, right? Especially if you start seeing the fruits of your labor in measurable ways.

1. Major Gifts - This might seem like a no-brainer, but oftentimes, even major gifts can be scary and intimidating, meaning it finds it’s way OFF of our calendar more days than not. Prioritize making sure you have ONE lunch, ONE coffee, a minimum of ONE hour of major gifts planned out for each week. This should be an ask. It should be a solicitation for philanthropic support.

2. Stewardship - Set a timer, and get to writing. Thank you cards are an excellent use of this time and an easy one to prioritize. Handwritten thank you cards for donations, for volunteer time, for being a great advocate for your mission. Look through your organizations Facebook posts, and tag donors who made the work possible. Call someone and tell them you appreciate them choosing your mission as a place to support. Utilize this time to say “thank you”, “here is the impact you’re making”, and “we couldn’t do this without you”.

3. Rounding - Don’t allow for yourself to get bogged down in meetings, notes, and paperwork for your entire 40 hours a week. Fundraisers should be known throughout the organization. Take that smile of yours and your encouraging words on the road. Round on the units, the cafeteria, the classrooms, the hallways, the water-cooler, other offices. Pop in and say “hello”, say “thank you” to some employees who give, ask if anyone needs help. If nothing else, this should fill your tank with understanding why your mission is important, helping you to refresh on what philanthropy really is doing, which allows for you to be a better asker.

4. Planning - Block time each week to plan out the next week. Is your normal time slot taken up by a donor meeting, or a leadership meeting popped up? Move it. Do you not have a major donor meeting on the calendar? Book it. Do you need to be out of the office for an appointment? Plan ahead. Are you doing the intros for a meeting with leadership from out of town? Set aside time to prep. Look ahead, and you’ll be more efficient with your time.

5. Planned Giving - Again, not a topic that most fundraisers jump up and down about, but you’ll be pleasantly surprised if you start setting aside an hour a week to focus on planned giving. It doesn’t have to be an ask, it can be writing a quick blurb to be posted as a “thank you” and a cultivation tool. It can be a visit to local wealth advisors or accountants to talk about the mission of your organization and the good work you’re doing. It can be hosting a luncheon with your committee to highlight ways to give. It can be calling those who have planned gifts with you and saying thank you. It can also be establishing goals and starting conversations with some of your most invested donors to also consider leaving part of their legacy to you.

Let’s take it one step further even, don’t just block the time, prioritize the time. If you were meeting with your largest donor, your CEO, or a prospect for a six figure gift and someone popped their head in your office asking for you to help with a task or to sit in on a meeting, you would let them know that you weren’t free during that moment, right? Get in the habit of the same attitude for these five items.

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