How do you keep track of it all?

If you’re running a camp or any organization for that matter - you have a lot that you are responsible for. Leaders need to pay attention to finances, staffing needs, donor engagements, facility projects and maintenance, relationships with neighbors, volunteers, planning and operating the annual campaign, managing capital campaigns and more. It’s a lot. How do you make sure you get to it all? How do you keep the priorities a priority? Or how do you even know what the priorities are?

We recommend using a dashboard. There are several great resources online to help you create a dashboard, but we will discuss how we do it here for you today.

• Create a list of your “buckets” A bucket is an area you are responsible for. These could be: Development, Board and Volunteers, staff supervision, etc. 3-5 buckets are ideal.
• Set your goal or goals for each bucket for the year. 3-5 goals per bucket is ideal - no more than 7.
• Create a simple spreadsheet. Across the top write bucket on the left, then moving right in the next cell write goal, move another to the right and write what success looks like and then one more over and write due date. Finally, create a cell for each month across the top.
• Start filling in your spreadsheet. Write the name of the bucket, move down a cell, and put each of the goals in its own cell one below the other in the goal lane.
• Complete what success looks like for each goal. Make it measurable.
• Write the date you want the goal to be accomplished in the due date area of your spreadsheet.
• Then you can start filling in your months. Each month list what you plan to do that month to complete the corresponding goal. Keep monthly items to no more than 3-5 per month per goal. Fill out for each goal. Complete 3 months at a time. It’s ok to not have anything for a month for a certain goal. This will make you plan out your quarter and your year, thinking about what steps can be taken each month to meet your primary goals for each bucket.
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Create a weekly must do and wanna do list. 60% of your time should be dedicated to your must-do’s. If you work a five-day work week, that means the equivalent of 3 days needs to be set aside to work on your goals. The remaining time is left for all the busy or other work that comes up, but you need to accomplish each month’s steps - that is your priority. We do that by creating weekly must-do and wanna do lists. There are several ways to track your list, based on what you like: old school pen and paper or any number of digital programs.

• Your list needs to be new each week. Create your list for the next week before you go home this week. DO NOT make your list on Monday morning, make your list the week before.
• Look at your dashboard and all the items listed under the current month. Remember you have four weeks to complete everything on that list. Decide which items you will do next week and add them to your must do list. Be sure you are aggressive enough to be able to get through them all in a month, but conservative enough that you are not setting yourself up for failure.
• Add other items from your dashboard or elsewhere to your wanna do list.
• Make a commitment to yourself that you will not end your work week until your weekly must do’s are finished. Focus on them early in the week and get them done before you allow yourself time for the wanna do’s.
• Over the course of the year, if you hold true to this plan, your priorities will get more time, are better defined and are likely to be met.

My last piece of advice is to hire a coach or find an accountability partner to hold you to your dashboard and your weekly must do lists.

You can do this! Streamline and focus on what is important to you and your camp.

Best of luck