Communication Working Group/Volunteer Manual/Media Planning

Media Planning

Why this exists.

Planning is what turns individual pieces of content into a coherent, sustained presence rather than a series of disconnected posts.

The CWG will try to keep a continuous presence in a number of channels. Tracking what has been published and what is planned is an important part of the work. The aim is to avoid gaps in coverage, which will read as silence to the audience.

The CWG will also try to balance coverage across the Five Pillars of coverage. It is important to avoid one Pillar being light on coverage while another is overflowing.

The editorial calendar

The group needs to maintain a shared calendar showing what's scheduled, across every channel, for the coming few weeks. This is the single most useful tool for spotting gaps before they become silence. It is also where the Chair fulfils the "task progress reports on every agenda" responsibility.

Balancing the pillars over time

Balancing content sets a rough target of fifteen to twenty-five percent of output from each pillar over a six-month window. That target is meaningless without someone actually checking it periodically; the Secretary's "flags process gaps early" responsibility extends to this, not just to stalled action items.

Coordinating campaigns with the regular cadence.

A live campaign, such as a fundraising push, shouldn't crowd everything else out. Campaign planning should say explicitly which weeks the campaign owns and which weeks continue as normal work, rather than leaving the two to compete for attention informally. Campaigns need to be resourced with available talent and the CWG should be honest about skills shortages.

Channel fit, not channel completeness

Being present on a channel is a decision you take. Before adding a new channel to the group's active roster, worth asking what audience it actually reaches that current channels don't, and whether the group has capacity to sustain it. Don't add channels just because they exist.

Balance Capacity against ambition

Because this is a volunteer group, planning has to be built around who is available and has specific skills, not around what would be ideal in principle. A calendar that is too ambitious will fail quietly, one missed post at a time.

Capacity gaps can be filled from time to time by outsourcing skills from former CWG members, Board members and members of other Working Groups. Capacity can also be hired in, subject to available funds.