What you’ll get from this post: a way to build your 2027 communications plan around the moments already on your calendar, from the first story you gather to the thank-you afterward. The Story Check above turns your answers into a starting plan.
- Start with the moments already on your 2027 calendar, and give each one a date, an audience and a job.
- Choose one anchor moment. It gets first claim on planning time, story gathering and creative attention.
- Work backward from the date, starting with story gathering about three months out.
- Put preparation windows on the calendar so you can see when two moments compete for the same people.
- Put a name next to every responsibility before you approve the plan.
Your 2027 calendar might already have a giving day, a gala, a program launch, and a year-end appeal on it.
But does it show when you’ll gather the stories behind those moments? When you’ll help people understand why they matter? Who will send the thank-you afterward?
That’s the difference between a calendar of events and a communications plan.
At Tellwell, we start with the moments an organization already knows are coming. Then we work backward: Who needs to hear from you? What do they need to understand? What will you ask them to do? And what can your team realistically carry?
You don’t need to start by filling twelve months with content. Start by deciding what matters most.
Start with the moments you already know
Before you plan posts or pick channels, list the moments in 2027 when you’ll need people to give, participate, join, renew, advocate, or understand something new.
Your list might include:
- A giving day or year-end appeal.
- A gala or signature event.
- A membership or renewal drive.
- A capital campaign.
- An anniversary or milestone.
- A new program, building, or service.
- An annual or impact report.
- A leadership transition or a new strategic direction.
Put a date next to each one. If you only know the month, start there.
Then answer three questions for each moment:
- Who needs to hear about this?
- What do we need them to understand?
- What do we want them to do?
“Launch our new program” is a moment. “Help referral partners understand who the program serves so they can connect people to it” gives your communications a job.
That distinction will help you decide what belongs in the plan and what doesn’t.
Choose the moment that matters most
Not everything on your calendar can be the top priority.
Ask your team:
“If we could communicate one thing especially well in 2027, what would make the biggest difference?”
It might be the campaign that funds your next chapter. It might be helping people find an underused service. It might be explaining a change that your staff understands but your community doesn’t yet.
Choose one anchor moment.
Everything else still matters. You’re deciding which priority gets first claim on planning time, story gathering, and creative attention.
When the calendar gets crowded, that decision gives you something to come back to.
Give people a reason to care before you ask
In Seasons of Story, we describe four seasons of trust: Introduce, Educate, Engage, and Remind.
They’re a way to think about what people need from you. Each organization can move through them on its own schedule.
Share the people, beliefs, and experiences behind your work. Give someone a way into the story without immediately asking for something.
Show what happens, why it matters, and what change looks like. Make room for the questions someone might need answered before getting involved.
When it’s time to act, give people a clear invitation. What are you asking them to do, and why does it matter now? You can also offer a smaller step for someone who isn’t ready to give, join, or commit.
Thank people. Show what happened next. Help them see the connection between their involvement and the work moving forward.
These seasons don’t have to line up neatly with calendar quarters. Different audiences may need different things at the same time.
Use the framework to ask: Have we helped these people understand and care before asking them to act? And have we planned what happens after they do?
Work backward from your anchor moment
Once you know the date and the audience, build the preparation timeline.
For a straightforward appeal or event, the following can be a useful starting point. Give larger or more complicated initiatives more room.
- About three months beforeGather the story
Decide what people need to understand, then identify a story that can help them understand it. Leave time to find the right person, invite their participation, discuss how their story will be used, and gather what you need without rushing them. Also look at what you already have. An existing interview, photograph, or story may be useful if you have permission to use it and it still reflects the person and the work accurately.
- In the weeks beforePrepare the message and the path
Clarify the main message, the invitation, and where people will go next. That might mean preparing an email sequence, an event page, a donation page, a printed piece, or talking points for staff and board members. Check that the next step works. A compelling story can’t fix a confusing registration process.
- At the momentMake the invitation clear
Tell people what you’re asking them to do and what their action will support. Keep the main invitation easy to find. Don’t make people sort through five competing priorities to figure out which one matters.
- AfterwardThank people and close the loop
Put the thank-you on the calendar before you launch. Then plan a follow-up that tells people what happened. If the full outcome will take months to emerge, share an honest progress update rather than rushing to claim a finished result. Treat the follow-through as part of the plan from the start.
Look for preparation collisions
Two events don’t have to happen in the same month to compete for your team’s attention.
A February giving day may need story gathering in November, while you’re also preparing a year-end appeal. A fall gala may need creative work during the same weeks you’re producing an annual report.
Add the preparation windows to your calendar, not just the public dates.
Then ask:
- Are we asking the same people to do several things close together?
- Are multiple projects depending on the same staff member?
- Can we gather material once and use it thoughtfully in more than one place?
- Does one moment need a simpler approach?
- Have we protected time for thank-yous and follow-up?
Sometimes the answer is to move a date. Sometimes it’s to reduce the work around it.
If you’re planning late, don’t build a calendar around preparation time you no longer have. Identify what is essential now, what can be simplified, and what can wait.
Write the change you want people to understand
Before you turn your plan into a list of deliverables, finish this sentence:
“Because of our work, ___.”
Notice whether your answer describes an activity or a change in someone’s life.
“We distribute groceries” explains the work.
“Families have the food they need to get through the week” explains what that work makes possible.
You need both. The activity helps people understand how you work. The outcome helps them understand why it matters.
Ask two or three teammates to finish the sentence independently. Compare the answers before showing them yours.
You’re looking for a shared understanding of the change your organization exists to make. The exact words can vary.
If you hear very different answers, that’s a useful planning conversation to have.
Match the plan to the people doing the work
Before you approve the calendar, put a person’s name next to each major responsibility.
Who will gather the story? Write the message? Approve it? Publish it? Respond when people act?
If the same name appears everywhere, the plan needs another look.
You might need fewer deliverables, more lead time, a clearer approval process, or outside support. You might also need to decide that an important initiative gets a simple communications plan this year instead of a full campaign.
A plan your team can carry is more useful than an ambitious calendar nobody has time to maintain.
Leave room to breathe
An open month isn’t necessarily a gap to fill.
It might be time to listen to the people you serve, organize your photo library, follow up with supporters, or gather stories for something coming later.
You can keep communicating without inventing a new campaign.
Does this help people understand our work, deepen a relationship, or take a useful next step?
If not, you may not need to make it.
Build your plan with the 2027 Story Check
The 2027 Story Check at the top of this page is a free planning tool designed to help you turn your biggest moments into a clearer communications plan.
You’ll identify what matters most, who you need to reach, and what could get in the way. From there, you’ll get a starting plan with practical next steps and a timeline to help you prepare.
It’s a draft to work from, so change whatever doesn’t fit.
Not a nonprofit? That’s okay. If your organization has moments that ask people to give, join, show up, or pay attention, the Story Check will work for you.
You can use it with your team on your own. If you’d like someone from Tellwell to walk through your results with you, you can request that at the end.
