A popular article in many magazines and newspapers is a peek inside a celebrity’s purse. It’s always fun to see what people carry around in the name of being prepared. I’ve often thought it would be equally revealing to look inside the filing cabinets and desks of top professionals.

I have a tried and true list of staple items I’ve used when I start a new job or project. I follow this list faithfully and it has not let me down. It works equally well in government, private and non-profit sectors. Spend some time developing these items before you need them, and your life will become easier. You or someone else in your organization needs to have this information available to be able to respond quickly when you get a media call, need to whip together a promotional package for an event or project, develop a proposal or speak at a conference. Here’s my list of must-haves:

A key messages document - short 1-3 sentence statements on topics like mission, operations, key projects or services, history, recognition or honours, support in the community

Biographies - one-page biographies of the executive members, senior personnel, board members

Head shots - professional quality headshots of key personnel and well as board chairperson

Organization profiles - short (less than 200 words) and full-page profile on the organization, program and services and geographic area served

Fact sheet - a bulleted list of relevant statistics and historical information about the organization and key projects

Logos - organization logos, in black and white and colour, in a variety of formats, e.g. lower resolution .jpg for web use or online, higher resolution like .eps or .tif for print

Photos - a selection of good quality photos that illustrate the mission in action, with a corresponding caption and identification of people, if applicable

Lists -  gather and update periodically lists of media, political representatives in your area, public service announcements and free community billboards

Testimonials - maintain a file of compliments and thanks

Allies and competitors - have a basic understanding of your partners and allied organizations, as well as your competitors

Contact lists - email, telephone, addresses for staff and board members. Print it out for the days your server goes down! This is guaranteed to happen when you need to get into your database in a hurry.

If you ensure you have these items you’ll never be caught unprepared. The next time an unexpected opportunity comes up, you can spend your time making the most of it instead of doing the eleventh hour dash.