Project Management

Effective Project Management is critical to the successful implementation of a strategic plan. I focus on creating a project framework that values collaboration, provides individual team members with autonomy, and establishes a space to provide feedback throughout the project. From the first scoping meeting to the final debrief, I am experienced at guiding teams through a variety of projects.

Annual Report

Client | Westminster College

Annual Report to donors for Westminster College, a non-profit higher education institution. The report included a message from the president and several impact stories.

Project Highlights

  • I have provided creative direction for large print projects and fundraising events including coordinating photoshoots, graphic design, art production, and event design.

  • I work closely with a variety of vendors to ensure that my employers receive the best prices and exceptional quality with the finished products.

  • I am experienced at data management and segmenting audiences to receive targeted and personalized communications.

  • I have worked on a variety of print projects including annual fundraising appeals, event invitations, annual reports, postcards, and stewardship pieces. I oversee the entire print project from the design of the deliverables, receiving estimates for printing and mailing, selecting appropriate paper weights and textures, data cleaning and merging, and final proofing.

Project Details

The Office of Institutional Advancement at Westminster College produces an annual report to demonstrate impact to donors each fiscal year. The report typically includes endowment performance data, graduating class demographics, alumni relations programming updates, and donor impact stories.

 In the fall of 2020—after an unusual spring term—our project team wanted to produce a report that would demonstrate the resilience of the Westminster Community and demonstrate the impact that philanthropic support continued to have at the college. I coordinated with multiple departments across the organization to collect data, write impact stories, produce original photography, segment the mailing list, and coordinate the printing and mailing process for the report.

Activities included in the project

  • Directed the creative vision for the project.

  • Managed the project timeline.

  • Communicated with team members to ensure that dependent processes were on track to complete the project on the deadline.

  • Manage vendor relationships to ensure that project timeline and budget stayed on-track.

  • Outcomes

    Westminster’s Annual Report yielded a 152% ROI and served as a powerful print stewardship element for loyal donors.

2022 Annual Day of Giving

Client | Westminster College

Record-breaking Day of Giving was coordinated across multiple teams who each expanded their programming elements to reach strategic goals.

Project Highlights

  • I employ data-informed decision-making and my knowledge of project management to identify attainable objectives and develop actionable strategies and tactics to accomplish the objectives with the available resources.

  • I have worked as a project manager with diverse teams and projects using the traditional project management approach and several different digital project management software tools. I excel at motivating team members to reach their full potential and collaborate effectively.

  • I have created print and digital fundraising campaigns including drafting and designing the appeals, collaborating with colleagues, managing data, coordinating with vendors, and managing the project budget.

  • I am experienced in managing annual department budgets, ensuring that individual projects come in under budget, and demonstrating the return on investment for how budgeted funds are spent.

Project Details

As the Director of Annual Giving at Westminster College, I created and implemented a strategic plan to reach the fundraising and engagement goals of the Annual Giving team. I allocated budget and time efficiently to reach objectives that were aligned with the priorities of the Office of Institutional Advancement.

Throughout the strategic planning process, I identified our team’s key objectives and created strategies and tactics to reach them. Our strategies included collaborating across teams in the department to achieve shared goals, implementing new programs to address key performance indicators, strategically growing existing programs, and discontinuing programming that was not aligned with the objectives.

One-page project management system

Activities included in the project

  • Identified objectives aligned with department priorities.

  • Conducted data benchmarking for key performance indicators.

  • Developed implementation plans for new programming elements.

  • Strategically allocated annual budget and human resources to the project.

  • Outcomes

    Expanded the number of campus initiatives supported
    and achieved a new record of individual donations on the annual Day of Giving campaign.

Crisis Communication Plan

Client | International Rescue Committee

Review of the organization’s existing crisis communication plan and development of a new plan aligned with its mission and values.

Project Highlights

  • o I have completed internal communication audits, conducted research about the perceptions of internal audiences, created strategic communication plans for this target audience, and overseen marketing and fundraising campaigns for employees.

  • I have planned a variety of email marketing campaigns including the process of audience segmentation, writing email content, scheduling emails as part of a multi-channel campaign, designing emails in an email management platform, and reporting on the campaign results.

  • I believe employee engagement is critical to the success of any organization. In my fundraising role, I created targeted communications for employees and conducted research about their participation in fundraising campaigns. I also served on the Westminster Staff Council—a group that advocated for the needs of staff members and planned professional development, recognition, and community engagement activities—for three years.

  • Crowdfunding is an important fundraising tool for non-profit organizations of all sizes. I have managed a variety of crowdfunding campaigns including college days of giving that raised over $200,000.

Project Details

I led a team of four other freelance communication professionals to review the crisis communication plan for the local branch of the International Rescue Committee. The team reviewed existing communication plans, conducted primary and secondary research, and produced a final recommendation report for the client over the course of three months.

The final recommendation report provided the client with a blueprint for how effectively communicate within the organization in case of a crisis that could ruin the organization’s reputation.

Activities included in the project

  • Created and managed the project timeline.

  • Coordinated primary and secondary research activities.

  • Communicated expectations with project team and provided support to individual team members to fulfill their individual roles.

  • Coordinated with team members to ensure that dependent processes were on track to complete the project on deadline.

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