Danielle Jackson
Here’s the latest installment in our series on the “Day in the Life” of nonprofit communicators, where we ask you to describe your day in your own words.
Danielle Jackson is a Communications Specialist with GCFLearnFree.org, an online provider of free education in technology, math, reading, literacy, social media, Microsoft Office, and other subject areas. In this role, she is responsible for managing social media and ensuring that all online tutorials are free from grammatical mistakes and that they have a cohesive look and feel. Previously, she spent 11 years in magazine publishing, serving as editor of lifestyle, business, and women’s publications. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Elon University and lives with her family in Raleigh, N.C.
Here is her typical day:
Before 8:00 am: Get ready, grab coffee, and get the kids to preschool.
8:00 am – 10:00 am: Arrive at the office at 8:30 a.m. Check emails and monitor activity on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and Pinterest).
Check TweetDeck and schedule upcoming Twitter posts based on feedback/interaction with fans. Schedule Facebook post, and post scheduled content to Google+ and LinkedIn.
Respond to posts on all social media sites, including YouTube (where we have 700+ instructional videos uploaded).
Update Pinterest boards with interesting pins in Education, Social Media, Nonprofits, ESL, and other important areas we cover. Respond to support tickets written by online learners.
10:00 am – 12:00 pm: Conduct research on ways we can serve more people as a resource, including state libraries and departments of education (we run an online education site that teaches basic computer, math, literacy, and reading skills for free and work with schools, libraries, prisons, and other organizations to help their clientele and students).
Find awards we could nominate ourselves for in the online education realm.
12:00 pm – 2:00 pm: Break for lunch away from my desk; take a post-lunch walk.
Monitor social media activity again, as posts typically go out at 1 p.m.
Respond to learner comments, requests, and support tickets. Resume research.
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm: Edit content for online tutorials (we have 1,082 tutorials in 92 subject areas); ensure there’s a consistent look and feel throughout.
Have a meeting to plan upcoming social media campaigns and tasks; conduct research on best practices for social media and for nonprofits.
Get back on Pinterest (we have found that the more we pin, the more interaction we get with our followers).
After 4:00 pm: Wrap up the day by responding to all emails, support tickets, and social media engagements. Look at the schedule for what needs to be done the following day.
Wrap it up by 4:30 and head off to get the kids.
Want to be featured in this series? Tell us what you do in a typical day as a nonprofit communications pro.
