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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