1. Plan your work - Work your plan
One of the biggest time savers, no matter the task, is to have a plan of attack, and to stick to that plan. While you may have to make adjustments when circumstances warrant, having a basic plan for inputting data and outputting results will give you consistently better results than a slapdash approach. In FundRaiser, the normal flow is to 1) enter gifts, 2) check your entries, usually by running the Automated Correspondence for Gift Thank You's report, and, finally, 3) print (or email) your gift thank you letters. The job of recording a gift isn't complete until all three steps are complete.
2. Avoid "double work" traps
I've mentioned in other blogs that it's easy to do more than necessary when entering data, by coding people with giving-related attributes, for instance, or storing the same information in multiple ways. If you have a plan (see #1 above), it should include what codes you want to use for people, and what codes you want to use for gifts. Understanding the various codes in FundRaiser, and how they relate to creating Groupings and Reports, is fundamental in having a smooth working relationship with the software. Don't try to record every little detail, unless that detail is critical to understanding your donors or their giving, or unless that detail gives you another avenue for requesting future contributions or participation.
3. Re-evaluate your work flow on a regular basis
No matter how long you've been using the software, it's a good idea to step back, from time to time, and ask yourself if anything is not working the way you would like it to work. And I'm not only talking about how the software works, but also about the way you use the software. Are their other capabilities that you think it should have but doesn't? Send us a suggestion. Maybe the capability exists and you just haven't yet been made aware of it. Talk with Tech Support or Training. Does your work really flow in FundRaiser, or does it seem to proceed in fits and starts? If the latter, perhaps some slight modification in how it's done, or which staffer does what job, might make it more productive or less stressful. Different people work in different ways, so the plan that works best for one staffer may not make sense or feel right to another. Is there an alternative way of doing things? These are just some of the things that should be reviewed every six months or so, or whenever staff turnover makes it convenient. By re-evaluating on a regular basis, everyone will keep up to date on what is expected, both in the types of data to be kept, and how it is to be done, making it much easier for the team to accomplish the goals of the organization.