Katie Todd
We need more stories for this series! Tell us what you do in a typical day as a nonprofit communications pro.
Katie Todd is the Online Engagement Coordinator for the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization who advocates for sound environmental policies that protect North Carolina’s natural resources and people. Besides reveling in the world of social media, blogging, and online activism, Katie enjoys spending her offline time finding adventures with her husband, running, cooking, reading, watching cat videos, and attempting to make her own cat videos with her own two felines and their coveted laser pointers. You can follow her on Twitter at @NoYinKatie.
Here is a typical day:
Before 8:00 am: Much to the chagrin of many friends, I’m typically out the door by 5:15 am to hit the YMCA before work. If I don’t go then, I won’t go at all.
I may do a quick scour on social media before heading out to see what I missed in the later evening hours. After sweating out the stress, I clean up, drive the 35 minutes into downtown Raleigh, and start brewing the coffee while heating up oatmeal. Eating breakfast at work has now become one of my favorite traditions.
8:00 am – 10:00 am: After reading the article “How to Spend the First Ten Minutes of Your Day,” I have tried to integrate this daily planning routine to kick off the work day.
Today, I needed to finish an email appeal draft, update online engagement data, complete a report for the 2015 M + R Benchmark study, write a blog post, and do research for two conversations on today’s calendar.
Since the first conversation was scheduled for 10:30 am, I started there followed by drafting the blog post scheduled for tomorrow.
I also start the mornings off by scheduling whatever social media posts I have on our content calendar. I do review Google Alerts, AllTop, and social media channels to see if any news has broken in order to take advantage of the timeliness!
10:00 am – 12:00 pm: After an excellent potential partnership conversation with another nonprofit working on environmental issues, I did a quick social media scan to see what was happening, if there was an opportunity to respond, or if anything needed to be shaken up with a news story.
One of my 2015 resolutions was to get outside at least once each day besides the walk to and from my car to the office. The sun was out and shining bright, so I took some time to venture to the bank and had a quick catch-up call with Mom.
12:00 pm – 2:00 pm: Another goal is to eat lunch at my desk less often, but today I did spend the time eating and reading through articles I had placed in my “To Read” folder. These articles covered a wide variety of topics: national and state environmental issues, blogging best practices, and social media insights.
I find myself easily distracted by articles, and if I try to read them as I am moving throughout my browser, I don’t truly read them. So, I try to dedicate structured time to read, digest, and reflect upon information that will help inform our collective work or improve our communications. This also means closing my email completely.
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm: The 2:00 – 3:00 pm hour is one of my weakest, so I made a cup of mint tea to keep me energized.
After finishing up the blog post draft after some helpful feedback from a co-worker, I took my time in setting-up the second alert to go out in our January membership email campaign. No matter how many times I do this, it still makes me nervous to ensure the content is correct, the links work, the segments are accurate, and the email is scheduled for the correct time. I err on the side of going slowly and not only double-checking it all myself but asking colleagues to give a second eye one more time.
After 4:00 pm: Due to the traffic clog between where I work and where I live, I try to leave the office by 4:45 pm in order to avoid the 5pm mega-crunch on Interstate 40. Today, I left a little too close to 5pm, which did add another 10 minutes to the drive home. Thank goodness for NPR’s All Things Considered!
The evenings consist of cooking dinner (tonight’s recipe was new: Chickpea Sloppy Joes, which were delicious), reviewing email and social media channels again, packing my lunch and gym bags, and knocking out any personal task items. I make a point to not check things work-related after 8pm, unless there’s something special happening (such as the State of the Union address).
In bed with a book by 9pm, and repeat!
Want to be featured in this series? Tell us what you do in a typical day as a nonprofit communications pro.
