QUA L I T I ES TO LOOK FOR
I N A TR IP MANAGER
PRO J ECT MANAGEMENT SK I L LS
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1This person needs to be incredibly detail-oriented,
proactive, organized, decisive and willing to take
risks. He or she will be dealing with issues large
and small.
AB I L I TY TO ATTEND
This person must attend the actual trip. He or she
is only one who knows every detail regarding the
trip, and should be present on site to improvise
when things do not go according to plan (and they
never do).
ACCOUNTAB I L I TY
This person should not be a volunteer or Board
member. He or she must be both accountable to
the organization, and to the department
overseeing the travel program.
F I E LD EXPER I ENCE & CONT INU I TY
Once you designate a project manager for the trip, it
will be invaluable that this same person oversee the
trip time and time again. From the very first trip, he
or she will gain valuable insight from on-the-ground
experience. This is difficult knowledge to transfer to
another staff.
STELLAR COMMUN ICAT ION
This person will liaise with leadership, donors,
vendors, external consultants, and stakeholders. He
or she should be a prompt, proactive, and a
competent communicator, with the savviness to
navigate internal dynamics.
WHO THE TR IP MANAGER I S NOT
The Executive Director, VP, or CEO (this is a lot of work and
minutia for people with so much responsibility already)
The receptionist or administrative assistant (the organization
won't likely pay for these people to attend the trip)
A volunteer or Board member (no internal accountability)
An eager HR Associate (no departmental accountability, not in
their job description)
PHILANTHROPY WITHOUT BORDERS
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