Developing a timetable for a college fund-raising campaign may be critical to success. Planning involves deciding what tasks to include, how to prioritize and schedule them, and how much time to allot, based on task requirements, institutional size/complexity, experience. Other factors include campus climate, board style, systems readiness, and…

College alumni directors are finding that alumni want more than parties at their reunions and are overcoming attendance slumps with creative, substantive programing. Ideas include faculty seminars on topics of current interest, sometimes integrated with professional continuing education, alumni panel discussions, involving the family, involving…

A realistic production schedule helps deliver college publications on time. This requires team effort and a spirit of cooperation, specific task scheduling, using tickler systems to keep staff on track, not allowing procrastination, and setting aside planning time. (MSE)

College reunion success depends on careful planning, including (1) starting early; (2) documenting all planning efforts; (3) motivating, including, and communicating with volunteers; (4) using formal and informal meeting time effectively; (5) providing a program highlighting events planned; (6) freeing staff to be volunteer-reliant; and (7)…

Directors of small public relations shops were queried on how they have cut out unproductve work. Some time-wasters include: long committee meetings, telephones, outside services, things that require big effort for little reward, interruptions, junk mail, typewriters, etc. (MLW)

Six ways for development officers to handle overload are identified: distinguish between urgency and importance; selectively ignore time demands; focus on where to make the greatest contribution; delegate tasks; tend interpersonal relationships; and make progress on critical long-term objectives. (MLW)

Practical time management and task management advice is offered to small college communications office personnel. Workers must know how to establish priorities and stick to them, what their limits are and how to leverage time, how to promote themselves and their work, when to tap outside resources, and how to network. (MSE)

Eight steps to help manage time are discussed: analyze time, identify time problems, self-assessment, set goals and priorities, develop action plans, carry out plans, face time problems, and analyze each day. Telephone tricks and ways to manage meetings are described. (MLW)

Guidelines for college publications professionals seeking to improve their productivity include these: set priorities; consider the consequences of each project; spend minimal time on trivial tasks; focus on your goal; identify the slowest task, which may limit a project's effectiveness; make appointments; avoid taking work home; and schedule…

The importance of communication between college advancement professionals and fund raisers is emphasized, and some techniques are offered for resolving specific communication issues, including time constraints during travel, timely filing of reports, resistance to computers, completeness of information recorded, resistance to information sharing,…

Suggested strategies for running a more effective college alumni program include effective calendar organization; careful staff utilization; administrator visibility; increased efficiency; effective use of alumni volunteers and student workers; good office communication; broad information dissemination across campus; consistent use of priorities;…

College alumni program professionals offer specific ways to make good use of limited resources in the areas of program planning, scheduling, time management, staff communication, use of technology, involvement of board members, use of volunteers and student workers, coordination with other campus programs, and staff motivation and appreciation…