My Experience as a Fractional (What?!) Marketing Director
Over the summer I was asked to take on a short-term contract to serve as Fractional Marketing Director for Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley. Since running Full Deck Design is a full-time job, my initial reaction was, “no can do.” After learning that Fractional meant part-time and in this case six hours a week, I reconsidered. Tackling a new challenge like this would be a chance to apply my experience toward helping an organization that makes our community better every day.
Onboarding
The first order of business was to learn about community foundations in general. And then, specifically, to learn what CFHV does—from managing over $100 million in donor funds, to awarding grants to local nonprofits, administering scholarships to area students and more. Meeting with staff revealed a need for new marketing materials and better structure.
Getting It Done
Action items over the six month term included:
- Creating an annual calendar of marketing responsibilities.
- Planning for and managing the 2022-2023 annual report.
- Creating a comprehensive brand standards guide.
- Facilitating a website rebuild in WordPress.
- Developing a social media calendar highlighting key focus areas.
- Mapping social media posts.
- Writing content for marketing materials.
- Coordinating with the communications manager.
- Assisting with preparations for the annual fundraiser.
Bolster Your Team
How can you apply the fractional employee concept to improve your team? Do you need financial support from a fractional CFO, artistic support from a fractional creative director or human resource support from a fractional human resource manager? This is a way to get assistance from seasoned professionals at a reasonable cost.