As a Communications Director, being organised is extremely important. No one likes that awkward conversation that happens because something has been forgotten. More importantly no one likes a visit from their Senior Pastor about their project which got overlooked.
Many churches run on a shoestring budget and can’t afford fancy pants scheduling/project management systems such as Basecamp. We too have to make similar choices and be financially savvy with where we allocate our budget spend. It was on that basis I thought I would share with you some ideas and practical resources. You can find out more about why you should centrally use a calendar for your communications here.
Here are the three ways to create a communications calendar on a shoestring budget:
1. Google Drive
Up until now we have used a centrally based communications calendar that was in Excel that has served us very well until now. (You can download a template here)
For 2014 we’ve updated to Google docs because we are more decentralised and myself or my team need access when we are off site.
I’ve created a template church communications calendar in Google Drive that you can view here. Feel free to copy and paste for your own purposes (Or retype).
2. Excel
Excel is not just for number crunchers. Excel is also excellent for calendars. Although files are only accessible on a server local drive. But they can be accessed from everyone within your church team. Check out one of my previous posts where you can download a free church communications calendar excel template.
3. Whiteboard
Yes, your communications calendar can be that low-tech and simple. The great thing about a whiteboard is that everyone can see what’s going on at a glance. And you don’t need to back up!
Don’t forget you can download the free Google Doc communications template here. (Kem Meyer shares some great ideas about communications emphasis in my interview with her which complements this post.)
Your turn
Do you schedule your promotions/communications? What are the tools that you use? If you use a paid product I’d also be interested in what you use and why. (Can I ask a favour please…. please share this post via your social network with your peers who would find this useful)
