Shades of the past! One of my duties as the treasurer of the Friends of the Sacramento Public Library is to prepare and send 1099 forms to the performers who put on children's programs throughout the year at the various libraries. In order to make their budget go further, libraries let their non-profit affiliates sponsor these programs. It gives something for the volunteer affiliates to do and a reason to exist and it certainly helps out the library. But because all the affiliates are just branches of our "big" Friends organization and covered under our 501(c)(3) tax status, we have to consolidate their income, expense, and payment activities. That means I need to get certain annual information from 28 subsidiaries. This is not unlike trying to get the quarterly report information from 8 or 9 wards back when I was the stake clerk and had to submit consolidated reports for the stake or not unlike trying to get 5 or 6 auxiliary organizations to give me their attendance or visit information when I needed to submit information to the stake. Why do I always seem to end up with this type of job. I really hate bugging people at least as much as they dislike me bugging them.
Of the 28 affiliates we have, 18 got their reports in on time and another 4 say they're in the mail. So that only leaves 6 more to go and probably 2 or 3 of those have nothing to report. But I need even the negative reports. Any suggestions?
Well, on my last ward information form I stated point blank that I wouldn't accept a clerk or ward missionary position. So one option is to stop saying yes to such things.
ReplyDeleteLee has a good point. Also there is a book you can check out of the library titled "How to Say No".
ReplyDeleteYes, saying no is an option (I've used it myself on ocasion)but I don't think that was the issue Dad was asking advice on. I got the impression he wanted new ideas for bugging people for information. I think that you should just go for the good'ol leaving them messages, phone or e-mail, until they give you what they want. Yeah they might find it annoying but they probably just need someone to keep after them until they turn in the information.
ReplyDeleteWell Natalie I'm sure you are right. I was just trying to use some obnoxious humor.
ReplyDeleteOn the note of obnoxios humor, the last time I didn't get any submissions for the ward newsletter I made up a fake newsletter and mailed it out to the folks who should have sent me something (involving news like a major group marriage in the ward and the RS's intention to take cruises for all future enrichment night activities). Sometimes you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, I guess, because I only had to bug two people after that (and one of them I was sending email to the wrong address, so she doesn't really count)
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