Will I Be Ready on Day One?

For months I have been preparing for this Monday – the day I walk into my new position as Director of Communications for a social change organization. The question going through my mind this weekend is:

What am I walking into?

I know I am ready for this opportunity. I have years of experience running an education outreach program. I spent years studying political advocacy for social change. Over the past year, I have immersed myself in the trends and tools of social media, nonprofit advocacy, and online communications.

Yet I am still nervous. Why?

Because on Monday I will no longer be thinking about what I want to do in this position – I will actually be doing it. And that requires taking the first step, making the first decision, choosing the first direction.

While interviewing for this position, I laid out an ambitious communications vision. I want to tell the essential story of the organization using the best available tools of the trade – relevant enewsletters, active social networking, a compelling web presence, engaging collateral. I want to weave text, images, video, and audio together to capture the attention that this organization deserves. I want to put a human face on the people who create high quality affordable housing and the people whose lives are changed because of this.

And I want to do all of this starting on Monday.

I have to trust that these grand ambitions will be realized only a step at a time and that it doesn’t matter exactly which direction I step first on Monday – it only matters that I take that step.

To focus my mind, I will concentrate on Kivi Leroux Miller’s first five recommendations in her e-book, “The First 100 Days in Your New Nonprofit Marketing Job.”

1. Make “get-to-know-you” appointments.
2. Review all of the plans you can find.
3. Read the last two years of newsletters.
4. Read the last two years of donor communications.
5. Learn the chain of command.

As much as anything, these tasks will get the ball rolling. I’ll let you know how it goes on Monday, the first day of my new career!