Lately, I’ve been reflecting on the idea of productivity. The nature of working in the non-profit and political world often requires a sense of urgency and incredibly heavy workloads.

The crucial nature of our work can often be a smokescreen to demand constant business with little pay all in the name of righting the wrongs of the world. But what happens when the wrongs are committed inside the very organizations that are meant to fix them?

One of our core values at Knurdology, my digital agency for nonprofits and activists, is sustainability. Not just in the environmental sense, but as a thoughtful practice in all that we do, especially concerning our human bodies.

Advocacy work can take its toll. We’re at a moment when we’re not only trying to advance progressive values but also pushing back on the rise of fascism. It’s important for us to build healthy practices and take care of ourselves as we do this important work.

Therefore, we’re sharing our tools for Mental Health Awareness Month to improve productivity and reduce urgency culture!

Falling Prey to Urgency Culture

I believe that how we run organizations is a direct reflection of our values. If our goals are to dismantle harmful systems to cultivate new systems, then we must begin that cultivation in ourselves as we work to spread our values more universally. (You can read more about my reflections in last year’s Roots of Change series on slowness.)

White supremacy culture is rooted in the insatiable desire to constantly produce at the expense of our own needs and bodies. This leads to harmful practices that have become normalized. A sense of urgency and perfectionism are basic characteristics of white supremacy culture precisely because these practices ask us to ignore our bodies and needs.

When something is urgent, we are in a “fight or flight” mode. We tend to move quickly and make decisions without strategic thought. That, in turn, leaves us little room to reflect on the impact of our work.

That can especially be true in the careers that are meant to combat white supremacy culture. Non-profit and political work can be incredibly impactful on people’s lives, but it’s often not well funded. Staff accepts salaries half of what they’d get in the private sector, with the understanding that they’ll probably work more hours with a lean staff.

Urgency culture in nonprofits can mean that an organization is doing a lot of busy work without actually solving the root cause of the issue.

Building Tools & Practices for Healthy Advocacy

At Knurdology, I’ve been experimenting with affordable ways to build sustainability into progressive organizing. Specifically, how streamlining repetitive work and increasing the ease of collaboration can break harmful practices within non-profits.

Over the course of my digital marketing career, I have planned too many campaigns to count.

While I love developing unique and customized strategies for businesses and organizations, I do get a little tired of the repetitiveness when it comes to actually laying out the digital advertising plan.

I’m a huge Excel nerd and love to templatize everything to make my life easier. I figured I might as well share them with the broader community so I have started listing some affordable marketing guides and templates tailored for non-profits.

Marketing Made Easy: Templates, Guides, Worksheets

I’m excited to announce we’re now sharing our customized templates!

The Knurdology store is full of guides, worksheets, and templates to help take the stress out of your digital marketing, social media, advertising, branding, and communications planning.

I am confident in what I’m offering, not just because I’ve already gotten great reviews from my clients, but also because of the thoughtfulness put into each product.

Straightforward & Easy

Each template or guide is designed to make it easy for any newbie to get started as soon as they get their product. If there’s any confusion, the detailed instructions that are included will always be an easy reference guide.

It was important to me to design the products for any level of knowledge. Expert marketers will find more advanced options and tips, while newbies can feel confident that the step-by-step instructions will guide them.

Customized for your Business

My career has spanned all kinds of marketing work. I understand the nuances of non-profit and political outreach.

Each template is geared specifically for your needs whether you’re an advocacy organization, nonprofit, political organization, PAC, or political candidate.

Automatic & Time Saving

Templates are meant for repetitive work. Not only do these templates help make repetitive work easier and faster by using a consistent and familiar tool, but they’re also designed to streamline work.

• Having one consistent source to reference for the entire team
• Using the same template helps improve familiarity and the likelihood that steps will be done correctly
• Summary tabs and trackers help to keep key information in one place to quickly make informed decisions
• Excel shortcuts are built-in to make certain steps automatic.

The digital advertising reporting template, for example, lets you automatically calculate your conversion rate, ROAS, and click-through rate based on your campaign metrics.

Conclusion

I’ve been developing my own templates to ease my client work for over a decade. Now I’m sharing my learnings with nonprofits and activists to help ease the important advocacy work! Check out what we offer:

• Digital Advertising Budget Calculator ($25)
• Social Media Calendar Template ($25)
• Digital Advertising Plan & Reporting Templates ($20)
• Social Media Amplification Guide & Template ($10)
• Digital Advertising Creative Guide & Template ($25)
• Brand Strategy Development Worksheet ($40)

Interested in getting a template for yourself?

To celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month, we’re offering 25% off any of the digital advertising, social media, branding, and communications templates and guides. Just use code “LAUNCH25” to get your discount.

✨ Get Your Tools & Templates Here! ✨