by Firefly Partners • 06.13.2019
A successful digital marketing initiative takes planning and preparation. When you work with Firefly, you’ll always have a project manager to guide your organization from discovery to launch. But there are things you can do to set up your team for success before you even begin working with us. Here are a few examples of actions your organization can take to achieve your project goals.
Think About Timing
It’s important to consider the start and end date of a project and the time in between. One example is a year-end fundraising campaign. While it may launch in November, we recommend kicking off planning in early summer. If you think you’re starting too early, think again. It often takes a little while to get your ducks in a row, and there’s no harm in having extra breathing room.
Planning early includes making sure you have the budget and capacity for your project, so you should consider your fiscal year, big events, and extended vacations your team members may be taking. When it comes to the launch of your new website, peer-to-peer event, or email campaign, it’s worth considering if there’s a particular date or month that’s relevant to your mission and leads to a hard and fast launch deadline. Flexibility is great, but we also know it’s not always possible.
Do Some Research (But Not Too Much)
From migrating to a new digital marketing tool to launching a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign, it can be helpful to connect with other nonprofits that have successfully completed similar projects. Your peers can give you advice about how to organize your team, how long a project might take, and pitfalls to avoid along the way.
But you don’t want to get too caught up in what another organization did, because ultimately your project will be unique to your organization. Keep a list of the problems you want to solve so when the time comes to figure out a solution you have a clear picture of what’s getting in the way of your goals.
Assign Roles
Every project needs an internal leader. This person does not necessarily have to be the president or executive director of your organization. But you should decide on and empower the person who has final sign-off each step of the way.
A second, and critical role for success is someone who can manage the team of people who contribute their thoughts and time to your project. Think of this role as the internal project manager. It’s necessary that there be someone inside the nonprofit managing the deadlines and communicating to the team when a project stage is complete.
The most important thing to remember is that you and your Firefly project manager are in this together. That means you’ll be part of creating a plan with reasonable expectations that gives everyone space to make adjustments. Partnership is ultimately what makes for a smooth process and a great result.
