Cortney Nichols
Welcome to our first installment for 2018 in our series on the “Day in the Life” of nonprofit communicators! This series lets you describe your workday in your own words.
We’d love to feature YOU in this series! Don’t be shy – tell us what you do in a typical day as a nonprofit communications pro.
Cortney Nichols is the creator of Marketing for Social Profits. She loves helping nonprofits grow their organizations, specifically those with limited time and money for an experienced communications team. Cortney focuses on working with nonprofits because she loves to support the people that are making the world a better place.
And this is her typical day:
Before 8:00 a.m. – Check email and FB notifications as soon as I wake up to make sure there are no emergencies.
I work from home so after this I bring my toddler to daycare, grab a coffee, and head back home to get started on my day.
8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m – I start by creating a master to do list, I am balancing several clients and projects at any given time and it is important to have a clear direction.
I go through my email inbox and write down any item in there that is a “todo’ and then archive the email.
Now, I check things like Google alerts, Facebook, Twitter, and Alltop to see if I can take advantage of anything that is “trending”.
I schedule my social media posts for the day.
10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. – For the bulk of my day I work on any big “projects”, this includes event promotions, graphic design for flyers and social media posts.
I also will use this time for any actual PR work including talking with press and creating content.
12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. – After eating lunch on the fly, I take a bit of a break to do a little housework and back to work on major projects! I usually “batch” these so each day is focused on a different client. This helps me focus and stay on track.
I will also document my processes and systems in something like Asana so the next time around I can save some time.
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. – In the afternoon I will respond to emails, update key stakeholders on any project progress or problems.
Check social media and engage with my different audiences and make a plan for the next day.
After 4:00 p.m. – After doing client work during the day I spend the evening promoting my own consulting business. This includes posting to my own Facebook group, Social Profits 101 and checking in other Facebook groups to see if I can help anyone out. I also use this time to write and promote my blog posts.
Thanks for sharing your day, Cortney!
Want to be featured in this series? Tell us what you do in a typical day as a nonprofit communications pro.
