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5 things you need to do before hiring a VA

So, you’re thinking about hiring a Virtual Assistant (VA)? We don’t blame you. The demand for VAs has rocketed of late as more charities are seeking remote workers who aren’t tied to a permanent contract of employment. As many organisations have stayed virtual in the last 5 years, or are making much more use of technology, so too have VAs become more popular. And it’s easy to understand why.

Add value to your business

Hiring a VA is an investment and will add value when utilised properly. It’s no good hiring someone to do all the jobs you yourself don’t want to do if you then don’t make great use of the hours that have been freed up. If you’re looking to boost your charity’s impact, but you’re drowning in the day-to-day running, repetitive tasks, necessary admin or you don’t have the expertise yourself to address aspects of your charity, hiring a VA is a must.

Optimise your operations

A VA can help optimise your charity operations, giving you more hours to work on what you do best, safe in the knowledge the administrative stuff is covered. A Virtual Assistant should be considered an extension of your existing team, one who adds value and whom you can rely on for support. VAs come armed with knowledge, experience, and expertise in a variety of areas. Some (like us) have lots of experience working with charities and have a niche skillset to offer alongside general support. This unique ability to bring new ideas and notice trends from other charity’s we’ve worked with makes our team of Virtual Assistants a vital asset to any charity.

That being said, there are some necessary things YOU need to do first before you go out and hire your Virtual Assistant.

1. Know why you are hiring a VA – what is it you want to change/achieve?

Understanding WHY you want or need a VA is really important.

  • Is your charity run off its feet? Are you meeting your targets for funding and growth?
  • Is there a specific area in which you’re lacking expertise such as data analysis, bookkeeping or marketing?
  • Are you disorganised or do you lack processes or struggle with managing projects from start to finish?
  • Do you simply wish you had more hours in the day to get done what needs to get done?

There could be a multitude of reasons, so it’s worth sitting down and identifying exactly what it is you’d like to achieve before you begin your search for a VA.

Try out our Time Calculator, to understand how many hours you may need, and how much time you could save by bringing on a VA.

2. Know what it is you want to delegate

Delegation is about identifying those tasks that are taking too long or are difficult for you to achieve with your current knowledge or workload, and passing those tasks on to a Virtual Assistant – who will probably be able to get them done much more quickly.

If you don’t know what you want to delegate, you won’t be able to identify the deliverable tasks a VA is able to achieve for you. This can be frustrating on both sides of the relationship, if you hire a VA without first assessing what you can relinquish it may take longer to see the results. Don’t panic though, we work with plenty of clients who don’t know exactly what they need help with so this should not prevent you reaching out.

If you need some ideas on what you could delegate, here’s our handy list of 30 things you can delegate, from diary management to website design. 

3. Know your budget

Assuming you’ve already factored in how much you think you can afford to invest in a VA, you may not have thought about what added value they’ll be bringing.

Sure, a Virtual Assistant will achieve results within hours, investing in 20hrs of support will be a game-changer for you and will allow us to have a greater overview of your organisation, enabling us to do more and make suggestions for overall improvement. As we’ve already mentioned, working with a VA will bring more to the table than merely doing those tasks you don’t want to do or find too time-consuming. When you factor in the additional benefit of having more of your own time to focus on your impact, generating tasks that lead to attracting new donors and funders, you’ll come to realise a VA can be worth their weight in gold. The more you work and communicate with your VA, the better understanding of your charity they’ll gain meaning you’ll receive fresh ideas, loyalty, dedication, and a genuine care for your charity.

Read our client testimonials to see how we’ve made a difference for our clients.

4. Have procedures and guidelines to follow

When you can communicate clearly what you need your VA to accomplish, they’re in a much better position to do so with efficiency and delight. When you have clear, documented processes, brand guidelines, video tutorials etc., your VA will be able to hit the ground running, lowering your initial costs and shortening the time in which it takes them to learn the ropes.

5. Learn to let go!

Yes, it’s easier said than done, but to get the best from your VA you must learn to let go and let them do what they do best so you can do what you do best. Stay in touch regularly, communicate often, but trust your VA. They will come to you should they need further instruction or if something is unclear. It’s time for you to enjoy the desk space and headspace that comes with hiring a great Virtual Assistant.

Once you have most (or all) of these areas mastered, get in touch with us, so that we can find the perfect member of our team to support your charity’s needs.

Know the tasks that are weighing you down, but not sure which to delegate first? Check out our blog to find out some simple ways to delegate like a pro, and fortunately, we have a handy delegation checklist which you can download to get started. As you go through it, think critically about the work that would be most beneficial to pass on.

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