Beating the “Burn Out”

Yes, I’ve been absent for quite  some time.

Hopefully (and I know I’ve said this before, and am starting to sound like a total non-committal person), this is about to change, and here’s why. Writing in this blog is part of my “beating the burn out” plan.

Non-profit workers face a myriad of challenges, and you certainly didn’t come here to hear me spout off the abysmal facts you already know: it’s a constant struggle to gain a salary that even attempts to compete with your for-profit peers, to gain access or support for professional development, to dig yourself out from under that never-ending to-do list… I could ramble on, but you get the drift. Non-profit workers burn out. Studies tell us this, and it’s been an issue when we think about the next generation of non-profit leadership and how we can retain the current young non-profit workers and get them to stick around long enough to become executive directors, associate directors, etc.

My annual review was in July, and not soon after that, although I felt a surge of enthusiasm and a resurgence in purpose for what I do, it wasn’t long after that I was feeling the flames of that non-profit burn out. What started off as a “feeling disempowered” day was turning into a week, and then two weeks, and then…well,  you get my drift.  It’s that nagging feeling that you’ll never get anything of substantial value accomplished, or in my instance, that when I do finally convince my management to jump on the bandwagon, it’s going to be too little, too late, or I’m going to get fed up with all these tiny gains before then and leave the sector entirely.

So what does one do? That’s where my “beating the burn out” plan/strategy came in for me, and I thought I’d share with you my thoughts, which are drawn from some ideas my peers have had, my own intuition about what I need, and some good old fashioned advice from my Mama.

• Make short-term & long-term goals and hang them up somewhere in your office where you see them every day. I manage what somedays feels like a thousand different aspects of communications & outreach at my job, and when I parcel out three or six months into goals in each area, it makes me feel better and not so overwhelmed by the tasks in front of me.
• Call up your favorite networking/professional contact and have coffee. Talk about anything. I can’t begin to tell you how these conversations keep me going. I always leave feeling enthusiastic or at least hopeful about my own work.
• Get involved in something outside of work that is completely different than your job. I started coaching youth cheerleading this fall, and in addition to being incredibly rewarding in it’s own right, it has helped me appreciate what I do from 9-5.
• Develop yourself. I’m not talking go out and sign up for some more professional networking events or a fundraising. I’m talking about doing things for YOU, personally. If you’re into jogging, join a running group. If you’re into art, take an art class. For me, it’s a combo of writing in this blog, and taking a yoga class on Thursdays. Once you get these things going, it’s like a little oasis of accomplishment that can fuel you in your professional life.

How do you beat the “burn out”?

Why I love Constant Contact, or a lesson in e-mail marketing…

In light of recent comments I have received from parents in response to our new e-mail marketing program, I thought I would pop over to my blog and share my experience with selecting and utilizing an e-mail marketing program for anyone who might also be seeking new ways to communicate with their audiences.

As communications coordinator, I am primarily tasked with communicating with our audiences, which at any time can be parents, elected officials, donors, volunteers, news media, etc. This means I spend a lot of time drafting e-mails and other communications to make sure we are keeping everyone informed of pertinent events, issues, and opportunities.  Recently, I noticed my alma mater’s e-mails to alums were quite snazzy and very effective in delivering pertinent information in an attractive, easy to use way. I did a little research (or I scrolled down to the end of the e-mail…) and found out that they were using Constant Contact, a program I had heard about vaguely and maybe see an ad or two. Before delving into the nitty gritty and shameless gushing about how much I love this program and how much easier it is making my life, let me go over a few key things here I think everyone should consider before making any attempt to utilize an e-mail marketing program.

• Is e-mail marketing something you can use? Because if it isn’t, don’t waste your org’s hard earned budget $$ on something that you don’t actually need. I’m sure about a hundred marketing professionals and PR pros would tell you OF COURSE you need e-mail marketing, but I don’t agree with this. It’s my belief that in all things, you need to evaluate your audience and what they need/want in terms of communication with and about your organization. In our situation, I find myself wishing I had a form or some sort of template for certain types of e-mails (like say, our calls to action for advocacy efforts, requests for volunteers, and invitations to events to name a few). I also found myself wondering if we were communicating effectively- is our audience getting our e-mails? Do they read them? Are they deleting everything I send because it’s boring? And last, but not least, one of my bigger goals in this position is to morph the bi-annual newsletter (aka the monster) into something more manageable and maybe one day electronic (save the trees!).
• What does your contact list look like? Constant Contact fit us because it’s prices for non-profits are based off of how large (or not) your e-mail list is. I would say if you are a mammoth non-profit (national, international, etc.), you might want to investigate designing your own program/templates/something more tech intensive since you probably would have the resources. We don’t, and I don’t need a custom template- but I do need quick, attractive, and efficient and that’s what was available for us through this program.

So I did some research, my lovely temporary intern Keisha did some research when she was here, and eventually the decision was made, and let me tell you, it is a purchase that I would liken to buying a pair of Jimmy Choos- it brings me continual joy. There’s something new I learn every time I send a new e-mail that just delights me and makes me want to call this company and thank them profusely for making this one aspect of my job easier, and we are getting constant compliments (ha, maybe they should change their company name) on the look of the new e-mails. Also, being able to see who is opening our mail, who isn’t getting our mail at all, and what links they are clicking is priceless information that helps me better tailor our communication efforts, which folks, is why I am here to begin with.

<end gushing>.

On another note (and probably another blog entry), I have much to share about my efforts to “shine while my light is on” (thanks to Rosetta Thurman, a great resource for all non-profit professionals, but specifically young non-profit pros!). Check back in a few days for more on that!

All right, listen, I swear I’m going to be more on top of this…

Wow. Many apologies for my long, long absence. My best defense is that I have been working (as I’m sure many have and are now “pffting” at me and rolling their eyes but really! very busy!!….*hangs head in shame*). However, I have newfound enthusiasm and zeal for this blog and my personal branding effort (fancy buzzwords eh?) thanks in large part to discovering many, many great non-profit professionals like myself who are out there blazing the trail for the rest of us; such as Rosetta Thurman, Allison Jones, Kivi Leroux Miller, etc.- check out my NEW blogroll updated with these lovely ladies!

So last time I left you I had just finished the first newsletter. Yipee! Let me quickly recap what I’ve been doing since October:

• Holiday events planning
• Holiday events volunteer coordinating- volunteer management is new to me but very intriguing!
• Annual Report 2008
• Supervised an intern in January (she was fab!)
• Two BIIIIG grants
• Professional development ’till I drop
• Joining social media networks on behalf of org. (we got twitter!)
• Planning opening event & invites & press materials.
• Purchasing & implement e-mail marketing program

So yes. Busy, busy me has been churning out new materials and projects left and right. I’m most excited about our new logo (thanks to my friend Ash, graphic design wiz) that I’ve sort of subversively (but not really) made official by putting it on every new piece of material. It’s very “managing up” of me, but I’m determined to make the image of this org. cohesive, even if it kills me!

Currently I’m working on the new newsletter (egads, really? that time again?) and new addition opening event logistics. Also I am constantly working on self-improvement and looking at ways I can update, innovate, and create in a way that will push our mission and share with others what we are doing in the community. For those hopeful PR peeps reading this, this is where I cannot STRESS ENOUGH the need to get yourself out on the web and in the community and make connections, join groups, and follow news that pertains to your sector/profession (like Chronicle of Philanthropy, non-profit blogs, trade magazines, etc.) because I feel that my education truly began when I left college and actually started practicing my craft in the real world. Get a Google Reader and start searching for blogs; stay abreast of trends, check out your local Foundation Center for free or cheap classes, and most importantly, be brave enough to put yourself out there all the time. If you can’t do that, maybe you should check into another profession, because what I’ve learned so far, PR (and business in general) is all about developing and nurturing connections with like-minded people, and the only way to do that is to be available to make those connections!

First Big Workplace Accomplishment

So, after a month and a half of tweaking and obsessing and working over every aspect, the Express is finally out! It was distributed last week during the all-staff meeting, and has been mailed out for all the world to see. So far, all the reviews have been positive and everyone generally likes the new features/changes. Here’s a quick summary of what I changed from the old format:

• Made the thing shorter: my goal was to really shorten it, but I only managed to ax four pages this run. Next issue goal: four more pages.
• Changed the format of the house and adult day program updates.
• Changed (obviously) the writing style to something that had more brevity and clarity above the previous writer’s wordy, eloquent (*cough* overdone *cough*) writing style.
• Changed the paper! It was a yellow-creme color that nobody seemed to be feeling anymore; so now it’s a light gray- very newspaper-esque!
• Changed the format and content of the employee anniversary and donation sections.

So now what? Well…..let me pull out my trusty “Goals” list that I made for myself!

…..

Uh….yeah. Where to start? The one thing I adore about my job is that I truly have to be good at planning and strategizing. So now I’m on to holiday giving/donations which involves a big holiday giving letter, some coordination of efforts to increase giving, and the ever continuing tasks of the website, grant research, and my currently sorely neglected PR campaign. (if you could call it a campaign…it’s more my personal mission to get this organization mentioned more frequently in the local media)

In other news, I am officially off probation (3 months) and am now a regular status (as in, I can use my leave) employee. My executive director wrote me a short but awesome email detailing that my work had been “exemplary” during the probationary period and that I had demonstrated “excellent writing skills, good organization skills, and work well with everyone”. She also said I was a “pleasure to work with”, which is just about the best way to start a rainy, cold Tuesday morning, if I do say so.

The “little girl” syndrome

So I clearly will need to be more on the stick (or on the ball…who came up with these colloquialisms anyways? What does it even mean to be “on the stick” or “on the ball”? Argh…enough English language musings..) about updating the blog. In my defense, my past week or so has been fairly busy and I have been spending a ridiculously large majority of my time working on the bi-annual newsletter for my organization.

Let me give you a little history on the “Express”; our organizational newsletter.

It all started in 1994, when our Executive Director began writing the then-modest, short newsletter updating our audience (parents, other service providers, donors, friends of the organization, etc.) on the happenings and what our supported individuals were doing in the community. As the organization’s foundation is in the idea that individuals with autism and developmental disorders should (and can) use community resources and be involved in the community to everyone’s benefit (including theirs and the community as a whole), we try to put a large emphasis in all of our outward communications on this principle. Therefore, the newsletter is a little like a yearbook; it is primarily a tool that elaborates on employment, community activities, and the general lives of the individuals supported by our organization. It is secondarily a communication tool where we can talk about organizational news and events. The newsletter serves to inform our audience and also to promote our mission. In recent years, it has grown tremendously; as has the organization. However, the growth has (like most things I deal with on a day to day basis) has gone a little unchecked and ceased to be a complimentary rose bush and is now a monster that is strangling the rest of the lawn. The last newsletter was around 32 pages….which isn’t a lot comparatively but considering that one person (oh yes, you guessed it! Me!) writes, edits, designs layout, and compiles photos for this thing; it’s a rather large task.  So, to bring us up to date, I’ve spent the last month and a half of the three months I’ve been working here creating this newsletter. It’s been scaled back (as much as I could in the first run of it under me), but it was still a rather huge task.

So last week I took the newsletter to our printers, where I met with the co-owner of the company and discussed printing options such as paper, folding, etc. Now, before I continue, let me say that this man was a very friendly, amiable guy who I thoroughly liked, and my trouble wasn’t so much with him as it was with the idea/principle his comments brought about. Anyways, we were about to look at paper samples when he said it- the thing that has me thinking and writing this blog. “Follow me back here, little girl.”

Uh. Pardon? I hesitated for a moment before following him and in my head was thinking, “Damn! How do you respond to that? Should I be offended? Should I be flattered? What does this mean in a women’s rights-ageism-gender theory sense?” (You can contribute the last thought to my 4 years spent at a women’s college). However, before I could calculate an appropriate response, I became distracted by paper samples.

But it got me thinking: how many other women in the workplace are affected by the “little girl” syndrome? It’s rife with problems. For example, most men in the workplace would be offended and most certainly respond if someone addressed them as “little boy”. But, since I am relatively young and a woman, it’s somehow okay to address me in a professional context using a phrase he probably uses with his daughter or granddaughter? Was this supposed to be a sign of friendship or am I supposed to feel demeaned? It also had me thinking should I be flattered? I tend to spend a few minutes each Saturday morning inspecting the growing number of silvery-gray strands that are invading my brown mane and maybe it won’t be too much longer before nobody is thinking of me as a “little girl” so perhaps I should just let it slide? (I should note that upon discussing that with my mother she got a big chuckle out of my musings on age considering my advanced stage of life: 23 years old.)

I think it bothered me as much as it did because I still don’t feel quite comfortable in this new skin: a young, female public relations professional. I buy the clothes and I join the clubs like I know what I’m doing, but at the core of it all, I’m still a bit shaky on what it means to be young woman in this environment.

Who I am and what I do

Who I am is finally starting to be a question I know how to definitively answer, and as for what I do…well, that’s still evolving- which is why I am writing this blog!

My name is Ashley, and I am a PR girl on a mission. What my mission is might still be up for debate, but for simplification purposes we’ll say my mission is to be a successful non-profit public relations professional.

I recently graduated college and began my next big project: Life! I graduated from Hollins University in May 2008 and moved my little Florida grown derriere to the closest big city- Washington, D.C. Armed with my liberal arts education and my two closest friends as roommates, I was set to conquer the world!

Well, the world conquering didn’t happen quite the way I planned. After a month of working as a temporary administrative assistant with a rather massive and well-known defense firm, I was starting to lose hope about my world conquering aspirations. And then….

I was hired to do what I actually wanted to do! Public relations! Communications! Development! Hoo-ray! I began working for my current organization, CSS, in late July. What do I do at CSS? Well, let me give you the long and the short of it: I am the Communications Coordinator, so officially I am in charge of creating collateral materials including the newsletter, website, brochures; external and some internal communications such as letters and correspondence; development and fund raising, researching, target, and writing grants; and any other duties that randomly get assigned to me along the way. Unofficially? I’m the one-woman PR/Communications department.

You are probably wondering what my organization does, so I’ll give you a quick rundown of that as well, because it’s going to come up a lot in my blogging. My organization provides services and support to children and adults with autism and other developmental disabilities. This overall mission/purpose encompasses a large number of programs including residential, supported employment, a school for kids, after-school and summer programs for children, plus social and recreational activities. We are a community-based model, essentially meaning we strive to keep these individuals actively involved in the community- we are not a “center” or institution by any means. This is really fantastic and also really challenging at times, but overall it is a fabulous organization that is doing really amazing things and I’m thrilled to work there.

This blog is going to be my ramblings, stumblings, and general anecdotes on what it is like to be a young public relations professional- I welcome any suggestions, comments, story sharing, advice, or general responses you might have to whatever I may say along the way. That’s about it for today- see you next time!