Meet Jessica Scheer, an Executive Director at a non-profit, who as a team of one, uses Google Docs to help her keep things running smoothly.
We want to know how you use Google Docs, too, so share your own examples at +GoogleDocs or @googledocs with the hashtag #mygoogledocs. -Ed.
Hi Jessica! Tell us a little about yourself and what you do.
I'm the Executive Director for the EB Research Partnership. We are the largest organization in the U.S. dedicated to funding research for EB, a group of rare and life-threatening genetic skin disorders affecting children from birth.
As the first and sole staff person for this dynamic organization, I’m focused on raising funds, communicating with our community, and building the organization. I need easy ways to keep our founders, families, board members and volunteers engaged and informed and Google Docs addresses that need in a way that no other tool can.
How does Google Docs fit into your work with EB Research?
Google Docs is instrumental to what we do. I use Google Drive and Docs for our communication pieces, event planning documents, grants management- everything really! One of the best uses of Google Docs to date was when we recently created a quick survey with Forms, prior to one of our Community Council webinars. I built a beautiful form that I then embedded into our website. That data helped us frame an important discussion about Advocacy with our community.
What are 3 tips you'd give for other organizations like yours who use/would consider using Google Docs?
It’s been noted before, but it helps to familiarize people with the tool whenever you can.
If your team isn't familiar with Docs yet, let them know that they will receive an email when comments are made. This helps orient them to a live editing process and keeps your communication about the doc on track.
You can use comments to provide context about the set-up of a Doc, Sheet or Slide. I found it helpful to explain why I color-coded rows by people’s ownership in a Sheet.
We want to know how you use Google Docs, too, so share your own examples at +GoogleDocs or @googledocs with the hashtag #mygoogledocs. -Ed.
Hi Jessica! Tell us a little about yourself and what you do.
I'm the Executive Director for the EB Research Partnership. We are the largest organization in the U.S. dedicated to funding research for EB, a group of rare and life-threatening genetic skin disorders affecting children from birth.
As the first and sole staff person for this dynamic organization, I’m focused on raising funds, communicating with our community, and building the organization. I need easy ways to keep our founders, families, board members and volunteers engaged and informed and Google Docs addresses that need in a way that no other tool can.
Google Docs is instrumental to what we do. I use Google Drive and Docs for our communication pieces, event planning documents, grants management- everything really! One of the best uses of Google Docs to date was when we recently created a quick survey with Forms, prior to one of our Community Council webinars. I built a beautiful form that I then embedded into our website. That data helped us frame an important discussion about Advocacy with our community.
What are 3 tips you'd give for other organizations like yours who use/would consider using Google Docs?
It’s been noted before, but it helps to familiarize people with the tool whenever you can.
If your team isn't familiar with Docs yet, let them know that they will receive an email when comments are made. This helps orient them to a live editing process and keeps your communication about the doc on track.
You can use comments to provide context about the set-up of a Doc, Sheet or Slide. I found it helpful to explain why I color-coded rows by people’s ownership in a Sheet.
