Four Ways I Help my Nonprofit Clients Accomplish More in Less Time
Serving my clients as a Nonprofit Virtual Assistant (NPVA) is rewarding. It not only allows me to give back to nonprofits that are making a difference in this world, it allows me to do so remotely, which gives me more time to be with the grandkids.
A large part of my job is to ensure that nonprofit organizations use the NPVA service to its fullest extent – in other words, to help my nonprofit clients take advantage of all the services and support I can provide.
First and foremost, I work to get my clients organized, and keep them organized. Here are some key strategies I use:
Prioritize. Every Sunday night I check my week ahead for meeting dates, specific or special assignments, and my weekly repeating tasks. I prioritize those tasks by order of importance. I do the same for my clients.
During our weekly client check-in meetings, we work together to create a list of tasks to be completed during the week. I then help my clients prioritize those items in order of importance or urgency. This process allows us to organize our week around those priorities to ensure their completion.
Delegate. Letting go of tasks, or delegating, is often one of the hardest adjustments for clients to make. If they have been doing it all themselves, for years, it’s often a struggle to now find comfort and confidence in delegating tasks to a Nonprofit Virtual Assistant.
I remind my clients of my background, experience, and skills that could be helpful in accomplishing tasks in an efficient manner. I share that I am “here to lighten the load, so that you can focus more on the big picture,” which is something most clients appreciate.
Delegation becomes easier for most clients once a level of trust and confidence in my abilities has been developed. Meeting deadlines, accuracy, strong communication and asking questions to clarify tasks are all components that will build that confidence. Our goal as NPVAs is to reach a point where we can handle the nonprofit’s daily activities and tasks independently, allowing leaders to focus their time on those things only they can do.
Organize. I encourage my nonprofit clients to adopt an online filing system to organize their materials. I often see clients with information across several platforms and with no particular order or system. I help clients categorize materials and create files/folders for each category. When I am asked to collect data or provide a quick view of fundraising events, donors, volunteers, membership, and more, spreadsheets come in handy. They allow both me and the client to retrieve the data, provide calculations, sort, and find specific information, all in one document.
Leverage Technology. Technology plays an important role in the day-to-day operations of a nonprofit. It can make the life of a nonprofit and its staff much easier – or it can create a nightmare. Finding technology that will be a good fit, and training the team on how to use it, is frequently the role of the NPVA.
These are just a few “tips of the trade” that have helped me become a more effective Nonprofit Virtual Assistant for my clients. Most importantly, setting clear mutual expectations aligned to the needs of the client will almost always result in trust, confidence, and a positive relationship between the NPVA and the client.
Could your organization use the remote administrative support of a Nonprofit Virtual Assistant?