How to Set Up a Nonprofit Marketing Production Calendar [Step-by-Step Guide]

Launching your first major nonprofit marketing project can be very overwhelming. I’ve been there. You need a system to stay in control and on top of multiple moving parts. 

You don’t have to sacrifice your sanity to get organized.

You need a structured marketing production calendar—one that’s easy to set up and easy to manage. Here is my step-by-step guide to creating a simple nonprofit marketing production calendar that actually works PLUS a sample template that you can customize to your needs. Let’s get started.

Know Your Goal

Before you even start developing your calendar, set your project goal. What do you need to achieve, and by when? In this post, we’ll use the launch of a nonprofit rebrand by August 1st as an example. 

Plan Out Deliverables

The planning stage is an essential part of your production calendar development. At this stage, you’ll break down the project into deliverables. For example, for your brand launch, deliverables may include:

• Logo and brand guide

• Messaging

• Website redesign

• Welcome email series

• Update social media channels

• Launch campaign

• Video reel

Take your time to note all that will be needed to make your marketing project a success. The next step is to break down your project even further by identifying tasks and assigning roles.

Assign Tasks and Roles

Next up, we’re looking at delegating tasks to the right team members and working out a schedule to complete those tasks. Here’s what a Website deliverable may look like:

Deliverable: Website 

Task 1 - Website copy 

Task 2 - Website design

Task 3 - Website development

After this, we segment the tasks function-wise so we can allocate tasks to the subject experts or task-owners:

Copywriter - Website copy creation

Designer - Website design

Tech - Web development/testing

The tasks can be as detailed as you and your team need them to be. I find the more detailed, the better. This will set expectations for the team and gives you a bird’s eye view of your launch plan’s components.

Create Timelines

When you’re assigning schedules, keeping in mind your planned launch date, it’s necessary to consider factors that could potentially impact your schedule. For example, are any of the tasks dependent on external factors like third-party suppliers? Are your team members already involved in other projects, or are any of them expecting to go on vacation? It’s recommended to include a buffer of extra time to account for any potential unexpected delays. 

Review and Final Edits

Another aspect to include in your production calendar is time for reviews and final edits. Copy, design, or tech elements are rarely 100% perfect the first time around. You may need to make changes, suggest revisions, and update schedules. It’s a good idea to allocate time for both reviewing as well as incorporating all the changes.

Put it All Together - Creating the Calendar

You don’t need very complicated or complex tools to set up your production calendar. You can make use of simple tools like MS Word/Excel or Google Sheets/Docs. There are also plenty of free customizable production calendar templates that you can find on the web. 

For our customizable template, we’ve used a Google Worksheet. The worksheet shows you a breakdown of the nonprofit brand launch marketing project with the goals and tasks. There’s a note section where team members can add note updates. There’s also a color-coded visual timeline and status section to view progress. Feel free to add or delete sections as you prefer. Share the document with your team members for visibility. Review periodically and update the calendar as needed. 

Whenever you need to manage a new marketing project—whether it’s a rebrand, a new website, a new referral program, a social media ambassador program—it’s worthwhile to make use of a marketing production calendar. Having a production calendar will help you stay organized and focused so you can pull off the perfect launch.