Pre-Crisis Communications Planning for Small Non-Profit Organizations

 The best crisis is one that never happens, but the second best is one you are prepared for as an organization. While it may be possible to predict the exact issue that may impact your work, you can prepare a framework for dealing with crises.

At Small Adventures Communications, we believe strongly in the power of nonprofit organizations to change our world for good. We know that when these teams are well-resourced, communities benefit. No matter how small your team, or how busy your board is, your organization deserves strong communications. We are cooking up ways to get that to more organizations in these wildly turbulent times, and this is just the first resource.

FIRST STEP: Anticipate the worst. Literally map out nightmare scenarios. Indulge your inner worrywart. Think along the lines of three categories:

1. Immediate: These are things that are immediate and unpredictable - a fire at the food pantry, a heart attack at the 5k, a bomb threat at the clinic

2. Emerging: Ding ding! We are all experiencing this one, at a minimum. It includes issues that have been brewing for a while and then suddenly erupt into direct impact on the organization. Things like suddenly losing a major source of funding, deportations among constituents, or policy change impacting programming fall into this category.

3. Sustained: Crises that start as immediate or emerging can become sustained if they persist for months or longer. This may be because of rumors or speculations across outlets and it leads to lasting reputational damage.

NEXT STEP: For each potential crisis, build a guide for managing the issue. You'll be focused on clearly outlining what your organization will DO to contain the crisis and what will be SAID internally and to media. This includes:

• Who internally (including volunteers) needs to be alerted immediately

• A single point of contact for media, usually someone directly in communications

• Questions to answer as soon as possible for the internal team

• Anticipated questions from stakeholders, including media

• Basic talking points to be used in the immediate wake of a crisis event

• "Standby" messaging to use when information is not yet completely known

KEY POINTS: Some basic things to remember when managing a crisis are:

• Your role is to contain and counteract, not react. Plan messaging accordingly.

• Involve all those mentioned in the crisis plans in the building of the plan and do annual reviews of these plans to ensure they match current branding and organizational positioning, and so they stay fresh in people's minds.

• Ensure all public-facing stakeholders, including admins and volunteers, know who the single point of media contact is and how to get a hold of them.

• Keep messaging consistent across internal channels, social media, and media interviews.

• Ensure drafted and shared messaging is fact-based and not speculative.

• Plan regular media updates and let reporters know when to expect these. This streamlines communications on the organization's end, keeping messaging clear and consistent, and gives reporters knowledge about where and when to get new details.

• In your messaging, be open and tell what your organization is doing to contain the issue. Demonstrate concern and do not use this opportunity to bring up anything beyond the crisis. "No comment" doesn't do anything positive for you or those you serve.

• The single point of media contact should plan to be on-call as long as the media are interested in the issue. If the crisis extends, a team approach is best.

Watch this space as we develop more resources for organizations to nimbly manage communications and public relations right now.