My First 100 Days

In less than a week, I start my new job as Director of Communications for a medium-sized nonprofit organization. My charge is use the organization's bully pulpit to change how this country thinks about affordable housing and raise the organization's visibility as a leader in creating sustainable communities.

This will be a big challenge for me -- a step up from running an education outreach program and studying the theories of political advocacy and social movements. My first weeks will feel like walking into a tidal wave of new information, new people, new projects, and new ideas.

Thank goodness I've got Kivi Leroux Miller's "The First 100 Days in Your New Nonprofit Marketing Job!" In this ebook, Miller lays out 100 critical tasks that marketing and communications directors should do in their first 100 days. As an exercise to keep my head from spinning off into space, I am using Miller's list as an anchor for my first three months on the job.

This blog will serve as my muse. What will my first day be like? How about my first week? What is the first crisis I will face? What is the first mistake I will make? Follow along to see the inside story of building an advocacy/ communications program as I try to get it off the ground through the first 100 days.

Note that names have been changed to retain privacy.