Sheri Booms Holm
Welcome to our latest installment 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.
Sheri Booms Holm is the Director of Communications at West Central Initiative. She manages and oversees communications, public relations and marketing to maintain and enhance the image and awareness of WCI. “I’m a big-city transplant who has embraced rural living. I do more, see more, contribute to community more than I did before.”
And this is her typical day:
Before 8:00 a.m. – I’m not a morning person, but this a.m. I’m able to get out of bed before hitting the snooze button a second time. Miracles do happen.
I listen to the morning news while getting ready for work. Today the Hub and I are going “Millennial” (which we are not) by enjoying avocado toast. We had a ripe avocado and thought, why not. It’s pretty good.
8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m – Coffee, please. There, that’s better. With caffeine in hand, I peruse my email, respond to anything that needs immediate attention or takes just a few minutes, and then add any to-dos to my “notebook of everything.” I have paper everywhere, but having ALL my notes and lists in one notebook helps me find info quickly.
Today my to-dos include checking references for a summer intern candidate, pulling together materials and setting up an exhibit for a business expo this afternoon, and updating promotional materials for a workforce summit we’re helping sponsor in late April. I’d also like to start laying out our spring newsletter.
10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. – One of my coworkers has been featured by another organization and I share the post on our social media pages and with staff.
I pull up a chair to chat with a contract employee who is helping me with a regional marketing campaign. We discuss new strategies for building relationships with our campaign partners.
Early lunch of leftovers from yesterday’s board meeting. We hold many meetings. There are often leftovers. The Special K bars are calling to me to return to the break room….
12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. – I go with colleagues to set up our business expo exhibit at the conference center just across the street from our office. Sometimes I staff the booth, but today, my two colleagues are. Bonus!
I have a great phone call with one of the intern candidate’s references. I am really pleased we have such a good candidate!
I pull together registration information for a leadership luncheon we’re co-hosting next week. Made phone calls to arrange a photo op and get the final details on a presentation I’m giving with a colleague tomorrow.
This is all a little more active than I usually am after lunch! My biorhythms always dip this time of day, so I often choose that time to peruse social media and Google Alerts for stories pertinent to our work here at West Central Initiative, and post or schedule upcoming posts.
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. – I tend to check email throughout the day. Just saw a workshop on “Organizing Work Spaces and Work Places Using 5s Organizing Principles” to be held at a local community college. Sounds great! But wait. I’ve had that instructor before and I thought he was kind of, well, crazy, so….
Met with the new director of one of the affiliate funds that we administer. As our organization’s webmaster, I go over how I can help her with her fund’s online donation page, and how I can help with fund communications in general.
The Special K bars are still calling me…whew, they’re all gone! One last cup of coffee instead. Worked on promotion for one of our grant programs that has been sluggish lately.
After 4:00 p.m. – There’s time in the day to start laying out the newsletter. Yay! I often work a little later than closing time, but today I have a 5 p.m. meeting at our local art gallery, of which I am a board member.
The last one and a half hours of my workday are usually pretty productive for me. As the office winds down and staff leave for the day, I finally feel I have the time and space to work on those projects on the top of my to-do list. I can get in some focused work before heading home.
Thanks for sharing your day, Sheri!
Want to be featured in this series? Tell us what you do in a typical day as a nonprofit communications pro.
