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Communications project brief worksheet
A practical worksheet for mission-driven organizations to define one communications project before work begins: its purpose, audience, key message, deliverables, owner, timing, and intended result.
1. Set the boundary around one project
Use this brief for one defined communications project before work begins. Name what the project is meant to do and what is outside its boundary so the team can make useful decisions without turning the brief into a full communications plan.
Prompts to use
- What single communications project are you briefing?
- Why does this project need attention now?
- What is outside this project’s scope for now?
2. Shape the project inputs
Make the project easier to start by naming the communication job, the people it is for, the central idea, and the work the team expects to produce. Keep assumptions or details to verify visible rather than filling gaps with guesses.
Prompts to use
- What should this project help make clearer, possible, or easier to act on?
- Who is the primary audience for this project, and what is their relationship to the work?
- What is the one key message the project should carry?
- What deliverables are included, and what does “ready” mean for each one?
3. Name ownership, timing, and the intended result
Finish with the practical conditions for starting. An intended result describes the useful change the project aims to support; it is not a guarantee of audience behavior, fundraising, participation, or another external outcome.
Prompts to use
- Who owns moving this project forward and who needs to review it?
- What timing, milestone, or decision point should shape the work?
- What intended result would tell the team that the project did its communication job?
One project, ready to brief
Complete one project brief
Write in your organization’s own words. The fields stay in your browser and are not saved or sent by Cairnwire; print or save a copy when the brief is ready to share with your team.
What should this communications project help make clearer, possible, or easier to act on?
Who is this project for, and what is their relationship to the work?
What is the one central idea this project should carry?
What will this project produce, and what does ready-to-use mean for each item?
Who is responsible for moving the project forward?
What date, window, milestone, or decision point should shape the work?
What useful understanding, action, decision, or relationship change should this project support?
Keep this brief focused on one project. Use the 90-day content calendar for multiple entries, dates, cadence, and channel planning; use the implementation-support worksheet for multiple priorities, next actions, questions or constraints, and owner or timing prompts.
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