Veronica Brown
Here is the latest submission for our Day in the Life of a Nonprofit Communicator series. This series lets you describe your workday in your own words.
Veronica’s Bio:
My name is Veronica Brown and I am the Communications and Advancement Specialist for the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, IL. I get to interact with some incredible, religiously-vowed women on a daily basis. I help run their social media platforms, assist with annual appeals, and develop blog posts and e-newsletters.
After graduating from Lutheran High school, I moved to Edwardsville, IL to complete my undergraduate degree at SIUE. Upon graduation, I moved back to Springfield, purchased a house and began my career in nonprofit communications. I’ve worked in non-profits that were tiny (think two staff members) and HUGE (think international scope) and have always loved the atmosphere that working for a nonprofit provided.
In 2017 I became a step-mother, wife, and dog-owner all on the same day😊 Now my husband and I spend most our time playing getting beat at Guess Who, Uno, and Candyland while the dogs try and sneak treats from their big (human) sister. We are also big anime and manga fans and dream of one day visiting Japan in-person.
She is working in the office now and this is her typical day:
Before 8:00 am: The alarms start to go off at 5:10am in our house. My husband and I actually work for the same nonprofit, so we commute together. We feed the dogs, throw our lunches together, and head to work by 7am.
8:00 am to 10:00 am: I’m usually the first one here in the Communications department, so I spend my first hour checking emails, making a new to -do list, checking my RSS feed, and eating breakfast at my desk.
Today is our weekly team meeting, so I am prepping a short list of things I want to go over together. We’re wrapping up our current Spring Appeal and I’d love to get a nice Thank You video filmed for our donors.
10:00 am to 12:00 pm: A quick walk around the block was just what I needed to refocus and dive in to a couple of action items from our team meeting. Luckily, the sisters have an ice cream social planned in the courtyard this afternoon so it’s the perfect opportunity to get a video filmed!
I spend time working in Canva to prep graphics for our social media posts. (Nonprofit Tip: Canva offers nonprofits discounts for their Pro account!)
World Blood Donor Day is coming up soon so I work on a simple video to post with information on where and how people can donate blood.
12:00pm – 2:00 pm: After a quick 30-minute lunch at home to let the dogs out, I’m back at my desk. I like to use the afternoons to really put my head down and focus on busting through my to-do list. First up today is prepping a blog post and email for our weekly e-newsletter. Microsoft Teams makes it easy to send quick chats, ideas, and links to my supervisor as we tackle the blog post together.
Luckily, I set myself a task reminder in Outlook to head to the courtyard to take the video. The sisters loved participating and we got it done in less than 20 minutes. I hand the file off to my coworker to work his editing magic.
2:00pm – 4:00 pm: Now that the e-newsletter is prepped and scheduled to send tomorrow, I feel like I can slow down a bit for the afternoon. I usually make another cup of coffee around 3:00 to get an energy boost for after work.
I settle in for a webinar replay that’s been on my list for two, ok…three, months and sip my coffee while taking notes.
I end the day by following up on any last minute emails, organizing my desk, and telling my office plants & coworkers to have a good night.
After 4:00 pm: Getting off at 3:30 makes going in at 7am totally worth it! We usually have a few errands to run and then come home to walk the dogs (depending on the weather) and have dinner together. I like to go over our schedule/plan together for the next day and then spend the rest of the night relaxing together.
Thanks for sharing your day, Veronica!
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