A one year plan helps you set priorities, control workload, and measure progress. You move from goals to audiences, then to channels and metrics. You keep the plan readable so your team can use it every week.

You can adapt a ready nonprofit communications plan template from ClickUp. It includes audience profiles, channels, goals, and tracking fields.
https://clickup.com/templates/communication-plan/nonprofit

How to structure the year

Quarter 1
Set goals, map audiences, build message themes, and record the baseline.

Quarter 2
Test campaigns and measure open rates, click rates, and social reactions. Segment audiences based on results.

Quarter 3
Increase engagement. Share more impact stories and run a mid year appeal.

Quarter 4
Report results. Run year end campaigns and prepare next year’s plan.

Monthly metrics to track

Traffic
Email open rate
Email click rate
Volunteer signups
Donations from campaign pages
Social engagement
Average time on page
Bounce rate
Survey response rate

Google Analytics helps you track site behavior.
Mailchimp, Campaign Monitor, and Sendinblue help you track email performance.
Native social analytics give you reach and engagement numbers.

YEARLY TIMELINE

Spreadsheet style table with fixed columns

Month   | Focus       | Output                               | Metrics
--------+-------------+----------------------------------------+-------------------------------
Jan     | Strategy    | Audience segments, themes             | Traffic, follower growth
Feb     | Strategy    | Content calendar, baseline report     | Email opens, page views
Mar     | Strategy    | Channel review                        | Social engagement
Apr     | Testing     | A B testing, segmented emails         | Open rate, click rate
May     | Testing     | Campaign testing                      | Conversions
Jun     | Testing     | Mid cycle review                      | Engagement trend
Jul     | Engagement  | Impact stories                        | Time on page
Aug     | Engagement  | Community content                     | Social interactions
Sep     | Engagement  | Midyear appeal                        | Donation rate
Oct     | Reporting   | Year in review prep                   | Traffic trend
Nov     | Fundraising | Year end appeals                      | Conversions, donations
Dec     | Reporting   | Annual summary                        | Subscriber growth

PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOLS

Spreadsheet style table with aligned columns

Tool        | Free Version          | Nonprofit Rate        | Notes
------------+------------------------+------------------------+------------------------------
Asana       | Yes, up to 15 users   | About 50 percent off  | Timelines and dashboards
Trello      | Yes                   | Up to 75 percent off  | Simple boards
ClickUp     | Yes                   | Discount available    | Many views in free tier
Monday.com  | Limited free seats    | Free for 10 seats     | Strong workflow features
Smartsheet  | Free plan available   | Discount available    | Sheet style layout
Basecamp    | No                    | About 10 percent off  | Tasks and message boards
Notion      | Yes                   | About 50 percent off  | Docs and task tracking

Pricing sources
https://brysa.co.uk/project-management-software-for-nonprofits
https://nonprofitquest.com/best-services/project-management
https://www.inleads.ai/blog/project-management-tools-comparison
https://www.zeffy.com/blog/nonprofit-project-management

How to use these tools in your plan

Set up one workspace for the full year. Create a project named Communications 2026. Add tasks for emails, posts, reports, and campaigns. Assign owners and set deadlines.

Record your monthly numbers in a single reporting task. Hold a short weekly review to update statuses and refine workload.

This gives you a one year plan that is clear, practical, and easy for your team to follow.