It’s no secret that nonprofits often have small communications teams and punch far above their weight to support their communities. Sometimes the team is only one dedicated person who may also be responsible for fundraising, social media, volunteer outreach — you name it. The question I get most often from these comms staffers is, “How can I do even more with my limited time and resources?”
I start by clarifying the organization’s strategy, prioritizing responsibilities and then reducing the number of planned activities. Still, it’s often a lot of work for a single person. Here’s my top advice for teams of one:
- Look for helpers. If you maintain core volunteers, ask for their help with activities that match their talent and availability. No core group? Even if you have one, make a list of 10 potential helpers from across the following categories: former staffers still tied to the mission, retirees who have expertise and enthusiasm, or student groups looking for workplace experience or community service credit. Bring in these new volunteers to join you in execution.
- Embrace an editorial calendar over a to-do list. At the very least, your editorial calendar should include major moments over the next six months when your organization plans to raise its voice and the gist of what it will say. It could be as high level as listing “March: Women’s History Month; highlight maternal health care efforts with one community story per week across each digital platform.” Use these plans to assign volunteers supporting tasks. To-do lists rarely look past the current week and are easily co-opted by other colleagues’ agendas. A proactive plan keeps the work moving forward and disperses it.
- Refine the storytelling scope. Great stories bring your values and visions to life, and people remember them for far longer than just data points or fact sheets. Gathering and sharing these stories, however, takes considerable time. Remember that you don’t need to tell all of your organization’s great stories. Alongside your colleagues, identify the three to four stories you want to focus on this year. Harness your energy into building out these stories well. Spend the rest of the year leveraging them in different formats (such as grant reports, social media and speeches). Do the same next year, intentionally building out your story bank at a sustainable pace.
Spitfire created a new training — the Small and Mighty Communications Series — to share these and other strategies with team-of-one communicators. It’s five sessions that cover what it takes to run a communications operation effectively — even with limited time and resources. I’m teaching the inaugural cohort and invite you to join me.
The world is incredibly tumultuous right now, to say the least. We know you need easy-to-use tools that are easy to incorporate in your day-to-day work while addressing the demands of leadership, staff and partners. This training will help you organize your many priorities and confidently determine which activities are feasible and strategic to implement. Hope to see you there.
