How to Juggle Vision and Daily Tasks As a Nonprofit Leader

Editor’s note: VIS is pleased to have this guest article by Sarah Olivieri, founder of www.pivotground.com. There is more information about Sarah and her organization at the end of the article.

Greetings, nonprofit champions! I’m Sarah Olivieri, here to guide you through the delicate dance of balancing your grand vision with the nitty-gritty of daily tasks. If you’ve ever found yourself swamped by urgent tasks at the expense of your strategic goals, this post is your beacon (and your guide on how to get focused on what matters most).

Evaluate How You Spend Your Time

Understanding how you spend your time can unlock insights into your organization’s strategic alignment. Here’s how to evaluate and adjust your time allocation:

• Track and Categorize: Keep a detailed log of how you spend your time, categorizing each activity as either vision-related or routine. Even better, break it down further into the categories of operating your organization (e.g., finance, fundraising, operations, program management, board of trustees, etc.)
• Evaluate the Balance:

• Vision/Strategy Related Projects: Aim for a significant portion of your time to be spent on activities that directly contribute to your organization’s strategic goals.
• Routine Tasks: Identify routine tasks that are necessary but not directly tied to a specific project and categorize them broadly. How much of your time do they consume? And how much time is in each category?
• By Category: Need more money? Spend more time on revenue-generating activities. Need to uplevel your programs? Spend more time on activities related to program evaluation and design. 

• Adjust and Delegate: If routine tasks consume too much of your time, look for delegation opportunities. Empower your team by entrusting them with these tasks, freeing you to focus on vision-centric activities.

Beware This Common Pitfall: Spending Too Much Time Managing Board Member Expectations!

Navigating the waters of board member expectations is a task to which many executive directors find themselves dedicating a surprising amount of time. Many have reported that roughly 20% of all their work time goes into managing board expectations. Imagine, that’s like dedicating one day a week just to making sure the board is nodding along in agreement! While it’s crucial to keep the board in the loop and aligned with the organization’s goals, this significant time investment could almost be seen as the nonprofit world’s version of “herding cats”—a delicate art form requiring patience, strategy, and perhaps a bit of telepathy.

I, for one, just can’t get on board with that percentage of time going to board member expectations. After all, every minute spent aligning expectations is a minute not spent on advancing the cause, raising funds, building the organization, etc. And I don’t think board members spend much time thinking about this either.

So, what’s the fix?

• Leaders need to track their time by category.
• The board should get reports on how much of their CEO/Executive Director’s time is going to the board vs. other activities.
• Then, any board member paying attention, or the executive director, should raise the issue if, let’s say, they are spending more time on managing board expectations than on fundraising.

Align Your Tasks With Your Strategy to Spend More Time on What Matters

Transforming daily tasks into strategic actions is at the heart of the framework I teach nonprofit leaders. Here’s a closer look:

• Goal-Oriented Projects: Start with your strategic goals, then break them down into actionable projects and then into daily tasks. This ensures every action is a step toward your vision.
• Bi-weekly Strategic Projects Checklist:
  • Are the strategic projects I planned still the right ones to do?
  • Is there anything we need to change, stop, or start?
• Daily Strategic Checklist:
  • Are my tasks for today aligned with our strategic goals?
  • How do these tasks contribute to our long-term vision?

Aligning Your Resources for Maximum Impact

As we delve into the pivotal strategy of resource allocation, it’s essential to recognize that effective leadership often involves making tough decisions about where to allocate your nonprofit’s finite resources. This section will guide you through the process of strategically redistributing assets—be it time, attention, or financial resources—from areas of lesser immediate impact to those that are critical to advancing your strategic goals. Understanding that bolstering one area may require scaling back in another is key to maximizing your organization’s impact and ensuring that every resource is invested in the pursuit of your vision.

Ensuring your resources are laser-focused on your goals is crucial:

• Resource Allocation: Direct your resources towards activities that advance your strategic goals. This might mean reallocating resources from one area to another for greater impact.
• The Resource Alignment Checklist:
  • Is my time being spent on activities that directly contribute to our strategic goals?
  • Are we investing our budget in areas that will propel our vision forward?

Remember, Your Focus is a Resource!

Focus is indeed a unique and invaluable resource for any leader, akin to time or financial assets, but with its own distinct value. It represents the deliberate allocation of your mental energy towards priorities that drive your organization’s mission forward. Unlike other resources, focus is inherently limited; you can only concentrate on so many tasks before the quality of your attention diminishes. This scarcity elevates its importance, making focused attention a critical determinant of where your organization invests its efforts and how effectively it navigates challenges. By treating focus as a strategic asset, you ensure that your most important initiatives receive the dedicated attention they need to thrive, thereby maximizing your impact and steering your organization toward its goals with precision.

Prioritizing Your Focus with Precision

Your focus is more than just a resource; it’s the compass that guides your nonprofit organization. Here’s how to ensure it points in the right direction:

• Evaluate Urgency and Importance: Not all “urgent” tasks require your immediate attention. Distinguish between what’s urgent for others and what’s truly urgent for your mission.
• Emotional Mastery: Stay grounded. Accept others’ emotions without letting them dictate your priorities. Your focus should remain steadfast on your organization’s vision. 

In the grand tapestry of nonprofit leadership, the threads of vision and daily tasks are intricately woven together, each essential to the fabric of your mission’s success. Remember, the art of leadership is not just in the doing but in the focusing—directing your most valuable resource, your attention, towards what truly matters. As you navigate the challenges and triumphs ahead, let your focus be the beacon that guides your organization to new heights. Embrace the dance between vision and execution, and watch as your mission transforms from aspiration to reality, one intentional focused step at a time.

About Sarah Olivieri, MPS

Sarah just might be the change you’ve been searching for…the breath of fresh air that will reinvigorate your organization and reignite your spark of joy for the impact you can have. A globally-renowned speaker and #1 international bestselling author, she has over two decades of nonprofit leadership experience and she’s poured her insight, expertise, and vast knowledge into creating The Impact Method®️ — a powerful framework that helps nonprofits simplify their operations, improve their capacity, build aligned teams, and make a bigger impact without getting overwhelmed or burning out.