Monthly Communications Calendar
Today we're talking about schedules, communication strategies, and planning ahead!
Does your organization have a monthly communication calendar? A well planned communication schedule is vital to the productivity, effectiveness and efficiency of your organization.
Today we're excited to share a FREE Communications Calendar (that you can download and edit!). We've also included a PDF version, if you prefer that.
We have developed this calendar to be a great starting point. If you have a well-established calendar, build upon the baseline suggestions we've shared. Adapt and expand this template to fit YOUR organization and use discretion as you know your audience best.
Let's get started!
Monthly Communications Calendar Breakdown:
Physical Mailings: Consider sending a physical mailing every 1-3 months! Maybe a newsletter, appeal letter, event invitation, etc.
Email Communication: For a good starting point, we suggest you start with approximately one email a week... sometimes you'll send more, sometimes less! Just be careful to not overdo it with your email subscribers and keep an eye on your unsubscribe rate.
Social Media: Consider posting on social media a minimum 2 to 3 times weekly per platform. For example, if you are active on Facebook and Instagram, we suggest you consider sharing 3 posts to Facebook and 3 posts to Instagram per week. TIP: If you are wondering how to schedule posts in advance on your Facebook page, check out this post with a quick video tutorial on how you can do that!
4 Strategic Planning Tips:
Plan Ahead! If you haven't developed this already, we highly recommend you set aside time to create a long-term schedule that will best fit your organization and supporters. Before you can decide what you want to post each day, you will need to decide what you will share that month, and from each month to the entire year. Long-term strategic planning is an essential step in creating a cohesive and productive calendar. Decide what events you will be hosting, campaigns you will be promoting, etc! Then you can essentially work backward and decide how far in advance you will want to announce, promote, invite, campaign, etc.
Plan the Details! Once you have your long-term calendar, plug that into your monthly/weekly/daily calendar. Now you will be able to know what you need to post each day... no guesswork or developing content on the spot! Design the social media graphics you will use, write the copy and text you will utilize, and create drafts of your emails as you plan ahead!
Free Tools! Some free tools we like to utilize when planning and creating are Trello, a free calendar/organizational planning site, and Canva, a free easy-to-use design platform! Check out our article on Canva to help you get started.
Choose Wisely Where To Engage! How do you typically connect with your supporters? Is it via social media, handwritten notes, emails, phone calls? Adapt the suggestions we've shared here to best fit your supporters and where they are. For example, if you have a disengaged social media following, now may be a good time to start creating a presence on social media and encouraging engagement!
An organized communication schedule is a great way to invite your supporters to be part of the unique mission of your organization. We hope these tips and tools encourage your organization to continue empowering your supporters and making a lasting impact in your community!
If you'd like to learn more about our Attendance, Peer-to-Peer or Crowdfunding Products, please reach out! We’d love to chat.
Amanda Rappe
This article was inspired by our customers and written to encourage your fundraising efforts. Although we work with nonprofits and events daily, our team members are not Event Consultants. We encourage you to consult with your event consultant, executive team, and/or affiliate organization before making any major changes to your events.