January 31, 2014

Does your organization live in chaos? How about your fundraising department?

Check out this useful book From Chaos to Control: Build a High Performance Team Using Knowledge Managementby Sharron Batsch.

As Sharron says, chaos need not be the norm. So what’s your CQ (Chaos Quotient)? For example:

  • Use the evaluation tool to determine your donor data management CQ.
  • Use another evaluation tool to determine your CQ in your knowledge-based system.

I like Sharron’s acronym for the problem: L.O.S.T. (Leadership – Order – Staffing – Training). Fix all four and your chaos quotient goes way down! And Sharron tells you how to fix it all.

This book describes a step-by-step process to building your Knowledge Plan (KPlan). Anecdotes describe problems. (Oh how awful these are!) The book describes solutions. And then the book describes the Knowledge Management System Toolkit.

And then there’s the 15 second rule. Sharon’s office and team evaluate the effectiveness of their Knowledge Management System by whether (or not) they can locate the specific resource file needed in a particular situation — within 15 seconds. Wow. Imagine that kind of efficiency!

I really like this book. Get your copy now. Use it! Make big, important, useful change. Now.

About Simone Joyaux

A consultant specializing in fund development, strategic planning, and board development, Simone P. Joyaux works with all types and sizes of nonprofits, speaks at conferences worldwide, and teaches in the graduate program for philanthropy at Saint Mary’s University, MN. Her books, Keep Your Donors and Strategic Fund Development, are standards in the field.

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