Multichannel fundraising efforts, like letters, social media, brochures, enewsletters, public service announcements, advertising and blogs, are effective because they reach out to different audiences in different ways. Keeping track of all these projects can be a bear though. That’s why we recommend that fundraising pros create a multichannel fundraising marketing project plan each year.

Here’s how I would break down the scheduling process in a few easy steps:

1. 1. List all of the channels you use to connect with supporters, such as the website, fundraising brochures, blogs, newsletters (print or emailed), Facebook posts, tweets, Snapchat, annual report, videos.
   2. Use a calendar to schedule when and how you’ll use these fundraising channels. There are lots of different calendar formats, and any of them will work. An online calendar has many advantages–it can be tailored to suit your needs, is easily shared with others and can be quickly updated. But ring-bound day planners or a white-board calendar displayed in your office can also work.
   3. Post the deadlines required to achieve your multichannel fundraising marketing goals. For example, if you plan to post one blog on Monday of each week, brainstorm topics and write those topics on Mondays. If the goal is to have a fundraising appeal in donors’ hands by late November, put that date on the calendar, then work backward, scheduling all of the other deadlines–copywriting, editing, approval, printing, and mailing–that must be met to make that letter a reality.

Creating this calendar will require some work, but after it is in place, it can serve as a template for future years. You will want to adjust and tweak, of course, as you see how your schedule for 2017 worked, but that will ultimately make your calendar more effective and on target for 2018.