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.