Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog

I’ve just released my new e-book, “How to Write a Nonprofit Annual Report” and am offering you, my blog readers, a $5 off coupon, if you download the e-book by August 31, 2007. Here is the coupon code you’ll need: 329855

The e-book is compilation of practically everything I have written to date on nonprofit annual reports. It’s a clear, practical, and easy-to-follow guide that will help you produce the best annual report possible for your nonprofit.

It will answer all of these questions for you, and more:

It’s $29.99 ($24.99 with the coupon) and available for immediate download at www.NonprofitAnnualReports.net. Here’s the coupon code again –329855 — which you’ll need when you get to the checkout page.

P.S. Want some additional hand-holding as you create your annual report? Sign up for my annual report e-course and you’ll get a copy of the e-book, a workbook, access to a private bulletin board, and my feedback on your questions and ideas.

The gals at Fix Your Marketing tagged me with the “Guide to Productivity” meme, so I’ll put my spin on it as a communications professional.
Here are my tips:

1. Invest in speed. I don’t know how much time I’ve lost waiting for web pages to download, for email to send, and for various computer programs to open, but I know it would be a whole lot more without the broadband Internet connection and the relatively new computer. Spend a little bit more for the speed and you will never regret it.

2. Prioritize often. At start of each week, I scan the calendar and the to-do list and make some mental notes about what I want to focus on that week. At the start of each work day, I note the top three tasks I want to complete. An hour or so before I quit for the day, I look at the long to-do list again and see if there is anything really important that has to be done that day. Often times urgent communications tasks will pop up during the day, but don’t let them sidetrack you from working on your other priorities too. Integrate them into your full to-do list.

3. File good ideas away. I am constantly coming up with ideas for client projects, new e-books, blog posts, marketing angles, you name it. Unless I get them out of my head, they keep bugging me and preventing me from getting anything done. That’s why I have a big notebook on my desk, a tiny notebook in my purse, and a pad of paper on the bedside table. All the random bits go in one of these three places. When they reach the status of an actual to-do item that I want to accomplish in the next few weeks, they go into the PDA.

4. Delegate. This is a hard one for me, but I’m getting better at it. What tasks can you pass off to an intern or someone you can hire for under $20/hour? Even if it takes me 30 minutes of training and supervision to make it happen, allowing someone else to do the busy work that would eat up three hours of my time is a bargain. It lets me focus on the tasks that truly require my personal attention. Get someone else to format the web page or the press kit after you write the meaty part.

5. Hire professionals. I love learning new skills and will often tackle complicated projects on my own so I can learn new computer programs and try new services, etc. But at some point, that’s too time-consuming and the quality can suffer. And then there are the tasks that I have no interest in whatsoever, but that must get done as part of a larger project. That’s why I send out work to freelance writers, editors, designers, and programmers who know what they are doing and do it well.

6. Do similar jobs at the same time. I know this bores some people, but it really works for me. I will often spend a whole day writing nothing but blog posts that I can publish throughout the coming week. Or I’ll do all of the InDesign work for various clients on the same day. Or I’ll spend a whole day on administrative tasks like bookkeeping, filing, etc. It’s like that cooking advice they always give busy moms: make several meals at once and freeze what you aren’t eating that night. There’s a lot of efficiency in lumping similar tasks together.

7. Make a little time for yourself during the workday. Stop working to eat lunch or to have a cup of coffee. Your brain and your back need the break. That 10 minutes you spend letting your brain rest will be well worth it later on. Since I work at home, I have other options. For example, I often work while eating lunch and then workout or run errands in the mid-afternoon, because that’s when I really need the break. Then I can come back for a couple more hours of focused work in the late afternoon/early evening.

8. Turn everything off and shut the door. Close the email reader and web browser, turn the phone ringer off, the cell phone off (all the way, not just to buzz), and close the door. Tell all that if they knock on the door or otherwise insist on interrupting you for the next hour that the consequences will be severe. Do this at least once a week (daily would be ideal) to make sure you can put laser focus on the project that needs it most.

9. Get organized, but don’t obsess about it. You need a certain level of file and desk organization to be productive, but don’t get crazy about it. I could spend all day, every day, cleaning up files, re-prioritizing my to-do list, entering data in the PDA, etc., but I’d get nothing of substance done. In fact, I’ve realized that when I get into hyper-organization mode, I’m usually procrastinating on real work.

10. Be realistic about how long tasks take. Thinking you can get five things done and then only accomplishing three is extremely frustrating. Learn how long it takes you to perform tasks (how long does it take you to draft 500 words for example?) and you’ll not only be more productive, but you won’t be nearly as stressed out.

After I wrote my list, I backed up the meme chain to see what others had on their lists. You’ll find lots of overlapping themes, which either means this stuff works or we are all doing it wrong: Fix Your Marketing > FlyteBlog > Zugunruhe Coaching > Healthy Web Design . . . a few others . . . and the originator, The Instigator’s Ultimate Guide to Productivity Group Writing Project

I’m going to pass the meme to two recent visitors according to MyBlogLog: Everyday Giving Blog and Daily Rebellions.

Technorati Tag: ultimate guide to productivity

Nancy Schwartz at Getting Attention asked for thoughts on how nonprofit marketers can stay on top of their professional development. One great way that I’ve continued to learn and grow professionally both as a consultant and previously as a nonprofit director is to turn the tables and move from the student role to the teacher role.

Teaching forces you to analyze your existing knowledge and experiences and to fill in the gaps so that you can provide a solid learning experience for others. Here are a few ways that you can increase your own skills and knowledge while helping others.

1. Seek out community speaking engagements. Not only will you improve your basic public speaking skills, but you can also practice how to grab your audience’s attention and convince them to support your cause — skills you can transfer to other facets of nonprofit marketing.

2. Speak at professional events. Ask to speak at your state’s nonprofit conference or at the state or national conference of the association that represents professionals working in your subject area. Giving a professional speech usually requires you to condense a lot of information into a small amount of time and to still be interesting — another skill that works across the board for nonprofit marketers.

3. Write a blog. Blogging is great form of peer-to-peer networking and mentoring. The frequent posting will stretch you to think about your work in new ways and to share valuable experiences and insights that may have otherwise been trapped in your office forever. We’ve already got a great community of nonprofit communications/marketing bloggers in place, so please join us!

4. Write an e-book or white paper. If you can’t keep up with a blog, try writing an e-book or white paper instead. Not only will the process help you grow professionally, you can also use it to market your organization (e.g. collect email addresses of the people who download it and follow-up with additional information about your group).

5. Write for a trade magazine. Every profession and subject area has its own trade magazine. Many of these magazines are thrilled when practitioners are willing to write articles for them. Some will even pay you for your article. It’s yet another task that challenges you to produce your best material.

6. Teach an in-person workshop or online course. I’d only been blogging for about six months when I was asked to teach an in-person workshop on nonprofit blogging. That forced me to become familiar with all of the existing resources out there. See the course notes, including links to some great leaders in the field.

Get out there and share what you know, and you’ll learn even more in the process.