Erica Hurt
Welcome to 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.
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.
Erica has a career in event planning, event management, and nonprofit marketing, spanning over the last 10 years. Recently, Erica has taken a leadership role in the marketing industry as the Marketing and Events Manager for Opportunity Resources, Inc., where she has been able to re-brand a 60-year-old organization and develop strategies to enhance the organization’s image and increase community awareness. In her spare time, Erica, her husband and son, work towards building a small sustainable farm and spend a lot of time fishing, hunting, hiking, camping, and enjoying what the Montana outdoors has to offer.
And this is her typical day:
Before 8:00 a.m. – I have a 1-hour commute to work each morning, and generally, I need to be at the office sometime before 9:00am.
Before 8:00am, I am waking up and getting ready for work. I recently started meal prepping breakfast, so I can grab-and-go something to eat on the way to work.
I start my day listening to relaxing music to put my mind in a peaceful state before the rush and potential chaos of work. I usually get in my car to leave between 7:30-8:00.
I always check my Google calendar to see if I have a meeting at any point in the day. I live by this calendar!
8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m – While commuting, I often put on a marketing, social selling, nonprofit communication (or something similar) podcast and listen while eating my re-heated breakfast (yes in the car) and drinking coffee. The drive is absolutely beautiful and I love to take this opportunity for personal development and knowledge building.
10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. – By 10:00am, I have settled into my office, checked emails, reviewed the day’s to-do list.
Often time, on Mondays, I am scheduling out social media posts or drafting automated emails to our donor base.
Right now, we have a voting campaign going on, so I am checking the results and brainstorming ways to procure more votes.
12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. – I almost always eat lunch at my desk. Occasionally I will attend a training webinar on donor cultivation or board engagement. I try to bring something healthy for lunch to counter the fact that I’m behind a computer 90% of the time.
Sometimes I schedule meetings in this window so I can get out of the office.
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. – Between 2:00p and 4:00p my day slows down tremendously.
I use this time to design any digital or print collateral we are needing for one of our departments.
I also use this time to grab some coffee and write my to-do list for the following day.
After 4:00 p.m. – By 4:00pm I head out the door to commute home. I never take my work home with me, which is quite relieving, however, I use my daily commute home to listen to podcasts for my small consulting business.
I suppose “work” never stops, it just changes from one organization to another.
Thanks for sharing your day, Erica!
Want to be featured in this series? Tell us what you do in a typical day as a nonprofit communications pro.
