Cherise Arrendale
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.
Cherise Arrendale is the Marketing and Communication Manager for Central Carolina Community Foundation. In this position, Cherise implements and monitors all marketing, communications and public relations efforts by the Foundation. She develops strategies to build brand awareness, manages the Foundation’s online presence, and coordinates the Foundation’s publications.
Here is her typical day:
6:30 AM: I’m woken by my husband, who has coffee in hand. Yes, I know I’m spoiled. We enjoy our coffee as we slowly wake up.
7:10 AM: Head to the gym with my husband. Depending on the day we usually either run or lift weights. Today, we are focusing on our strength training.
8:00 AM: Get ready to go and start our 25 minute commute. I carpool with my husband to work so I drop him off first, then head to the office.
8:45 AM: Begin my day at the office. I typically begin by checking email and social media, making sure there are no urgent messages that need a response. Then, I prioritize my work for the day, making a to-do list that will hopefully keep me focused on the important tasks.
9:30 AM: Schedule social media posts for the day and begin diving into work. If I have any writing tasks for the day, such as blog posts, newsletter content, or press releases, I try to focus on those first, while my mind is still fresh. Today, I’m finishing content for our Spring newsletter so I begin to write away.
10:00 AM: During this time we have a variety of internal meetings. Today, I am meeting with our Institutional Advancement Team, which consists of our Vice President, Donor Relations Manager, and myself. We discuss upcoming events and projects and make sure we are all on the same page with details and messaging.
11:00 AM: Back to work. I do another quick check on social media to make sure there is nothing to respond to and that scheduled posts went up okay. Then continue with finishing up with writing.
1:00 PM: Lunch time. I typically try to take a thirty minute break from work to refresh my mind. If it’s nice outside, I’ll go for a quick walk. Otherwise, I catch up on news and personal emails and take a breather while enjoying my packed lunch from home.
2:00 PM: Occasionally, we have afternoon meetings with various vendors, fundholders, or media personnel. I usually try to schedule interviews and brainstorming meetings during this time. Today, we don’t have any scheduled meetings so I work on finishing the writing from this morning, making some updates to our website and creating some graphics for an upcoming event.
4:45 PM: One last check of social media and email. I make sure all the urgent tasks for the day are completed and look ahead for any upcoming deadlines. I clean up my inbox from the day, file away items on my computer desktop and actual desk, making sure everything is where it belongs.
5:00 PM: Time to head home. The evening consist of dinner, making lunch for the next day, general cleaning up, possibly an additional “light” workout. I make an effort to leave work behind for the rest of the day. My coworkers know that if there is something urgent, they can text or call me.
9:30 PM: I read in bed for a little bit to relax then turn off the lights to get some sleep before the next day.
Want to be featured in this series? Tell us what you do in a typical day as a nonprofit communications pro.
