“It’s Not My Job” Part II: Tips for Preventing “Job Creep”
My last Nonprofit Tips & Tidbits discussed a problem that I term Job Creep: the seemingly pervasive practice of assigning non-development related tasks to development professionals. This practice can hurt the organization financially while demoralizing the development professional and creating negative perceptions of the profession.
Preventing Job Creep requires effort from both the development professional and his or her manager or board. These 6 tips may help development professionals focus more of their time on activities that raise money for the organization.
Rather than saying “That’s not my job,” development professionals and their managers can ask “Is this the best use of my time and talent?” This analysis may result in an affirmative answer; perhaps running the Angel Tree program fit this person’s responsibilities. But only when analyzing the actual and opportunity costs of taking time away from the direct tasks of building relationships and raising money, can you assure that focus remains on raising money.
Development professionals should track and report the time and outcomes of all responsibilities, those within and outside of their development tasks. When you can go to your manager with data about the amount of time you spend working with donors and prospective donors and on non-development related tasks, you can better report your impact on the organization and the opportunity cost of diverting from your central responsibility. Just how many donors can you meet in 100 hours, and how much can you raise from those meetings?
When you receive one of these assignments, proactively ask your manager to help you prioritize. That way, you decide together the best use of your time. I successfully used this approach with a previous manager. It served as a nonthreatening way to say “Here’s what I have on my plate; where do you want me to prioritize what you just added?” Often, I don’t know that he knew everything I had on my to-do list.
Look for alternative solutions, including hiring staff, asking other staff to manage these responsibilities, outsourcing, or assigning certain tasks to volunteers. Data will help here. While on its face, asking the development professional to run the Angel Tree program looks like it doesn’t have a cost, when you add the real financial cost to the opportunity cost, it becomes easier to see how hiring someone else may SAVE money. That is, if you hired – or assigned – another staff person with an annual salary of $30,000, the cost drops from more than $12,000 to $1,400.
Find development ties to the seemingly non-development related tasks. For example, for the Angel Tree program, could you develop relationships with the people who donate gifts to your families and encourage them to make financial gifts to the organization? They already demonstrated a passion for helping your clients; show them how else they can.
Continue to educate managers and board members about the realities of relationship-based development. Talk about the time involved, temper expectation, and celebrate successes together. When they better understand the realities of the profession, they will more likely support you in your efforts to raise money for the organization – and see the value of allowing you to invest your time here.
