From XU Magazine, 
Issue 24

4 Simple Tips for Charities to Increase Productivity

How Xero and infoodle can help you serve your community more efficiently

Running a charitable organisation can be extremely rewarding; however, not many realise how much time goes into serving a community. This article walks you through a few steps that will help your organisation spend less time on administrative tasks and, instead, use your resources to focus on your mission and make a difference.
This article originated from the Xero blog. The XU Hub is an independent news and media platform - for Xero users, by Xero users. Any content, imagery and associated links below are directly from Xero and not produced by the XU Hub.
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Excessive paperwork and administration can be draining and reflect negatively on the work that you are doing as a charitable organisation. However, the secret behind productivity is simple. It lies in creating systems and streamlining your processes. Charities can benefit from establishing structures that allow them to remove the overwhelm and run more effectively. Entrusting your processes to Xero and infoodle will help tremendously with managing your resources and making time to focus on your mission. Here are a few tips on how to achieve maximum productivity:

Streamline your management systems

Using powerful tools such as Xero and infoodle together, you can store all your information in one place. There is no need to remember multiple passwords and log in details, just as there’s no double entering of information, which reduces errors and improves reliability. Track payments, send reminders and generate receipts easily within one centralised database. Another important aspect is that having both Xero and infoodle hosted on the Cloud, there will be no stressing about access, updates or support. Finally, while both tools are intuitive and work together seamlessly, comprehensive navigation and regularly updated help systems make finding information easy and straightforward.  

Reduce stress by avoiding mistakes

Most accounting errors are associated with double entering of information and unavoidable typos or missed records. Their number can be reduced by automating the process of capturing and importing transaction data from bank feeds. Xero provides an option of collecting data directly from the bank, while infoodle has automatic reconciling of Xero data. These features make the process of handling finances both simple and secure, allowing you to quickly produce reports for stakeholder meetings or tax reviews, and protecting your data with an option to enable “permission dependent” access for your employees or volunteers.

Simplify by creating workflows

Creating reliable step-by-step systems that you can automate can help you to accomplish more without taking on more responsibilities or adding to your workload. The efficiency of charities, often under-staffed and time-poor, depends on automating repetitive tasks to ensure that all processes run smoothly. Workflows, which are an essential part of infoodle, are an excellent way of streamlining these processes. For instance, customisable email templates allow you to respond to inquiries, follow up with donors and send thank you notes in minutes. Improved communication, in turn, helps to develop stronger relationships with your stakeholders and ensures that you consistently deliver professional experience.

Use time management strategies

Schedule your most important tasks during the time when you are most productive. Setting up to-do lists and highlighting your priorities can help you gain better focus, avoid procrastination and keep up with deadlines. Use calendars in order to distribute your time and resources better. Colour coding works great for blocking time to complete different projects. Try task batching: group similar tasks together, so you don’t waste time switching between tasks. It is also important to establish support structures, such as creating automated task reminders based on projects you are currently working on. With infoodle, you can even set up text or email notifications to make sure that no time-sensitive tasks get forgotten.

These steps to boost productivity are quite simple, yet effective. Taking advantage of the features provided by Xero and infoodle, you can cut the time spent on administrative work and dedicate it to things that truly matter: following your calling and serving your community in the best possible way.

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