Do you remember Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits? I used to.

I recently read an article in Forbes that made me smile.

The guy was referring to The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. He confessed that when it came out 20+ years ago he loved the book, read it more than once, and worked hard to integrate the habits. Me too.

Today, however, he couldn’t remember a single one. Same.

What did stick though is Covey’s 4 quadrants – a very simple framework that’s truly a game-changer for personal and professional effectiveness – and end-of- year fundraising campaigns.

You may remember the simple little matrix with 4 boxes. I’ve created a customized framework for how to spend your time in the next few months to increase your fundraising results – this year and beyond.

The 4 Quadrants for Year-End Fundraising Success

Quadrant 1: Urgent-Important.

These are the crises that erupt or important tasks that we simply haven’t gotten to. The most pressing meetings or deadlines fall into this category.  When we do fire-fighting, it’s all relating to stuff in this quadrant.

Where to spend your time

1. Thanking donors from the last week (if you haven’t already). If you don’t do this you can forget about getting future gifts of substance.

2. Updating the database. Fundraising falls apart with a crappy, inaccurate database or record of your donor’s giving history.

Quadrant 2: Not Urgent – Important.

These are the things that matter in the long-term but will yield no tangible benefits this week. But they will yield big results on December 31^st.

Where to spend your time

1. Sit and assess. Look at last year’s results. Identify the donors that increased giving, stayed the same, or lapsed to help you create a realistic goal. What needs to be done to target these donors effectively?

A few examples: segment lists for effective solicitation, add or improve your approach to email solicitation; get a lead gift from a major donor.

If you don’t know where to start, go online and find a free webinar or short ebook to refresh your memory on best practices and get new ideas.

2. Identify the gap. Get real. What are the things that deep down you know you’ll have trouble pulling off. Think of people that care about your organization – donors, volunteers, your sister, a board member – that have the skills you need to move the needle.

3. Call them. Remember, we’re in quadrant 2 here. If you start doing the stuff yourself in the same old way, you’ll never get around to getting help. And you won’t raise more money.

4. Write down a plan. Make it simple based on the reality of your organization. Do your best with this – no more, no less. This is the heart and soul of quadrant 2 work.

5. Rally the  development committee. Wow them with your plan. Ready…set…go!

I’ll remind you why to steer clear of quadrant 3 and 4. A little guilt goes a long way.

Quadrant 3 activites, urgent – not important.

These are interruptions that happen, such as phone calls. They are poorly thought-out meetings that soak up our time, but which we have to attend because we already accepted the invite.

They are other activities which we tell ourselves in the moment that we must do. But if we stopped ourselves to really think about it,we’d realize they aren’t that important.

Quadrant 4 activities, not urgent – not important.

These are the things we do because we feel like we’re tired and need a break. It’s checking and rechecking email and Facebook during the day because we think we might miss something.

Ditch the activities in quadrant 3 and 4, or at least a decent chunk of them, and you’ll raise more money.

Try this ritual

At the start of every week, draw 4 boxes on a blank sheet of paper. Then, write all the things you want to do that week right inside the boxes. Only write in quadrant 1 and quadrant 2. This becomes your high priority to do list. Hang it up above your desk!

Spend time thinking about what goes into the boxes, not creating a fancy box – what quadrant would that activity go in?

What would change if you spent more time in quadrant 2?