Building an Effective Content Creation Workflow for Nonprofits

Ilia Jones | April 2022

Content marketing is an essential part of any nonprofit’s marketing strategy. But coming up with a content strategy is only the beginning. You’ll need to make sure it’s carried out. This can be especially challenging if multiple team members are working together on it.

Workflows help teams stay on task. Think of your content creation workflow as an assembly line in a factory. Content passes through multiple hands, from graphic designers to writers to editors, before finally seeing the light of day. But setting up the right content creation workflow is essential to success. Here are some tips to get you started.

Create and Refine Your Strategy

No matter what your nonprofit’s processes are, it all starts with your strategy. Before you set up workflows, make sure you know your audience and your goals with any marketing efforts you’re launching. Then list the team members or contractors who will be creating, managing, and monitoring your content efforts.

Use the Right Tools

The right people are just as important as the right tools. Project management solutions like Trello and Asana can bring everyone together in one place to see their assignments and notify you when they’re complete. This can keep tasks moving along without your constant oversight.

Use a Content Calendar

Before you can start mapping your content, it’s best to know what needs to be done. A content calendar can help nonprofits hit those important campaign dates. You might need to promote your search for volunteers for a big donor push, for instance, and a calendar will help you backtrack to the dates to start posting. A content calendar can also help you mix up your content so you aren’t always sharing the same information.

Create Task Lists

As your team grows, more hands will probably touch each piece of content. List those tasks and name team members to be responsible for them. Even if the same team member is handling multiple tasks, though, it’s important to separate them out so nothing is forgotten. An image post might require photography, editing, accompanying text, and posting, with approval at several of those stages.

Set Up an Approval Workflow

The tasks are only part of your workflow. You’ll also need to make sure someone is looking at those pieces and signing off on them. Before a piece of content sees the light of day, whether it’s a social media share or email, someone should be required to issue approval.

Measure Results

Every marketing campaign should be carefully tracked and measured to inform your future efforts. You can find tools to help with that, but make sure checking metrics is part of your workflow on every marketing campaign. Someone could even be tasked with compiling regular reports.

If you have a strong team in place, it’s important to make sure you’re using everyone effectively. Content creation workflows will help you put all the pieces in place to outline each team member’s responsibilities and track where tasks currently stand. For more tips on content marketing for nonprofits, visit ArcStone’s blog.