Today, I’m sharing some ways you can keep your organization, operations and process fresh throughout the year. Having these in your back pocket before the end of the quarter is going to give you a little boost to improve or change something that’s been having around in the to-do pile for a while.
Create a plan
No surprise with this one, having set goals and a solid plan to help guide your year is so powerful. Without a plan, it’s hard to be intentional with your time and efforts.
Conduct a website review
A lot has changed at your nonprofit, no? Make sure your website is keeping up. Here are a few items to review:
- All footer links! TEST your social media, email and cross links!
- Side-bar and header items
- Blog categories
- Pop-ups
- Homepage, services page, about page, test contact forms (and please, please, also list staff email addresses!)
- Make sure your plugins are up-to-date
Update your social media profiles
Same as your website, you want to make sure that your social media profiles are all up to date. Make sure all the information is current. Make sure your nonprofit logo is prominent, update your banners, and make sure your pinned posts are not out of date.
Clean up your files!
No matter the time of year, it’s always the perfect time to get your files cleaned up and organized. Why? Your files should be organized so you can easily find your documents especially with most of us working remotely. Archive or shred any files you no longer need, and backup your files to a cloud or external drive.
Pro tip: As part of my monthly checklist I back-up my computer and clean off my desktop, downloads, Dropbox and Google Drive folders.
Organize and clean out your email list
Your email-marketing list needs at least a yearly review. Review all your email automations: is all the information up-to-date? Do all the links work? Do you need to update your photos and graphics? If you have a ton, make a plan to do this in stages: start with your welcome email sequence. Assign yourself a sequence a week to work through the details.
Pro tip: Each quarter clean out cold subscribers. Do you have a bunch of cold subscribers hanging around? Give them a last call to stay on your list (and why) and if it’s crickets, remove subscribers who aren’t engaging.
Make your inbox clutter-free
A fresh inbox kicks your week off right. Get rid of subscriptions, newsletters and updates that aren’t serving you. Just like cleaning up your digital files, delete folders you no longer need and get rid of old emails.
Pro tip: Each Friday I strive for “inbox zero”. I also respond to, file and delete my emails so I can start the next out week fresh.
Review your platforms
Don’t let your platforms lag behind in your business! You work hard, and your platforms should do. Also, make sure you aren’t paying for platforms you no longer use. This includes back up services, email and survey providers, scheduling sites, software subscriptions, content delivery, storage services and more.
Pro tip: Check-in on your platforms every 6 months. Plus make sure to set reminders before your platforms renewing if they renew annually. You don’t want to pay for another year of platforms you aren’t using.
Reset your Editorial Calendar
Content creation is a big part of my year and takes a chunk of time – more time than I’ve realized. If content creation is a part of how you develop donor relationships, engage supporters, and engage volunteers, then make sure it’s as organized as possible.
If you don’t already have a system for your content creations, then you need to start one ASAP that considers topic, timing and delivery method.
If you have a system, review that process and make any updates needed, and reset your strategy.
Do it, already
You know the thing you keep saying you will handle? Maybe it’s setting up a document sharing system, or getting your policies organized. If you have had something that keeps coming up on your list of things to take care of, do yourself a favor: schedule the time to do it.
STOP pushing it off for when you have more time. I know you don’t have a magic machine that makes more hours for you. If it didn’t happen last year, it’s likely to be on your list this year, as well.
Either set aside a day to tackle it, OR set aside an hour a day for the next week or two, depending on the scope of the project. If you are really procrastinating, consider hiring outside your organization to get it done. If you are really REALLY procrastinating, ask yourself is it really a priority or important to you? If the answer is no and it does not affect the direct success of your organization, reconsider whether it should be on the list.
Pro tip: Each month choose one item off your list of “need” to do. It might be big or small, but don’t let the same issues and frustrations keep coming up in your nonprofit week after week without addressing them. Do it, already!
Happy reset, whatever month it is!
