Fundraisers not entering or updating actions

Sheri Massolo · September 2022

We have several staff with portfolios. These have actions that the staff are not updating when completed. They are also not entering new actions as they occur which are outside the touch point plans. How can I get them to enter and update their actions?

We have given deadlines, suggested text to speech, implemented policies and procedures…

Dariel Dixon · September 2022

@Sheri Dawes This is one of the million dollar questions. TBH, this is a common issue. Rules are only as good as their enforcement, and this needs to come from management and the fundraisers' direct supervisors. Outside of that, there really is not a whole lot that can be done. I would suggest taking a look and seeing out it is affecting performance. I think that can go a long way if you can quantify how actions not being entered (or not being entered in a timely fashion) can negatively impact reporting or some other metric. Good luck.

Tom Klimchak · September 2022

@Sheri Dawes Yeeah… You're essentially asking how to motivate people to do part of their job.

We have about five development officers here and we push them to fill in actions by making that part of their employee evaluation and goals for the year. So in addition to having to raise a certain amount of money per year they are evaluated on having a certain number of meetings and interactions with their portfolio prospects. Those numbers are reported in monthly reports and meetings, so if anyone is really slacking it will show up. We also run queries that can show us how many people in their portfolio have been contacted recently, etc. Since we base all this on the actions THEY enter it's in their best interest to be diligent about it.

Now… incentives can have unintended consequences. We've had some development officers in the past start “padding” their actions with silly things like “left message, no reply” a dozen times on one record, but once we call them out it everything usually settles down.

Rima Yamazaki · September 2022

@Sheri Dawes

We have a third party app (SmartOutlook) that allows fundraisers to easily add an action to a record with a simple click in their email handler. It still requires action on their part, but much less so.

Stacy Evans · September 2022

@Sheri Dawes Honestly most organizations I've worked with, they don't do them. I've seen most places make the Assistant do it when there's a backlog. One place was so bad that they literally had an assistant working on it for a couple of months. Also, I noticed that Fundraisers are good for bringing the money but aren't the best with attention to detail. I'm not saying all but I've encountered enough.

Stacy Evans · September 2022

@Sheri Dawes You could automate the actions in NXT.

Karen Diener · September 2022

@Sheri Dawes
I think Dariel and Tom nailed it. This is part of a major gift officer's job, and it is up to management to enforce it. It is organizational culture too.

That being said, looking for ways to make it easy will help. Offer trainings, written documentation, and one-on-one to support. After awhile, it will become apparent that you are giving them all the tools they need and they are just not doing their work.

If it continues to be a problem and you are asked for suggestions, offer different scenarios and their tradeoffs. For instance, you could do a global add or import, but everything needs to be in a certain structure and this will also offset some other work you can accomplish - your turnaround time on all other projects will be impacted. You may need to hire additional help. But that is management's call and not yours.

I've been through this a lot and have the same answer. Your job is to make the rules clear to everyone, and make it as easy as possible. Making people follow those rules is the job of their supervisor.

Karen

Wesley Ardoin · December 2024

@Rima Yamazaki
Hi Rima, I'm curious if you have continued to use this product and if you are still finding it helpful?

Thanks for the insight!

Fundraisers not entering or updating actions

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