How to Prepare for a Crisis
Is your nonprofit organization ready for an inevitable crisis?
Like an active volcano that could erupt at any moment, organizational crises are not a matter of “if” but “when.” However, you don’t have to live in a constant state of paranoia or panic. There are active steps your team can take—this year, this month, even today—to help make sure you are ready when a crisis hits.
Planning isn’t just key—it’s critical
“Failing to plan is planning to fail.” We’ve all heard these wise words from Benjamin Franklin, but when it comes to crisis communications, nothing is truer. Often, organizations don’t prepare adequately, leading to a game of chaotic catch-up when they face a crisis. Poor planning has shown to result in confusing messages, broken trust and even deeper damage to an organization’s reputation.
Why crisis planning matters for nonprofits
There are ways to manage a crisis before one strikes. At Guardian, we agree with the adage that the best defense is a great offense. In simple terms, the best crisis management tool, especially for nonprofits with more limited resources, is deciding to take steps to prevent a crisis altogether.
Before a crisis hits—not after—is the only phase of an incident that your organization can control. The incident itself and the period following it will be fraught with factors and elements beyond your control.
7 ways to prepare for a crisis
Advance preparation will strengthen your response, increase your chances of surviving the crisis and even help you avoid a crisis all together. Here are seven ways to prepare:
Establish a crisis plan.
A formal plan can help you identify critical details ahead of time. Who should make up your crisis management team? Who are your key stakeholders? Who could lead a response? What types of communication could you offer? Formalizing these decisions before a crisis occurs helps your team to stay level-headed, organized and wise when it matters most.
Implement best practices.
Practice some of the most important crisis communications principles, such as responding quickly, taking ownership and maintaining a humble, authentic posture.
Identify your vulnerabilities.
Even the healthiest and most well-intentioned organizations have blind spots. These could be anything from finances and leadership accountability to sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) matters, or employee policies. No matter the issue, it is better to proactively identify vulnerabilities now versus reactively learn about them later.
Develop foundational key messaging.
Creating and equipping your team with consistent messaging helps everyone stay aligned, consistent and clear in a crisis.
Monitor what’s being said about your organization.
Whether posts from online critics, search results or news coverage, everything is important. Having monitoring in place before a crisis hits allows you to have a healthy awareness of what the conversations are and where they are taking place.
Equip your staff through a crisis comms boot camp.
Your employees are your brand ambassadors, so make sure everyone is equipped with what they need to know when an inevitable crisis happens.
Leverage experienced, outside counsel.
After decades of dealing with all manner of crises, our team has developed risk-management best practices to help you prepare in advance for a crisis, so that you can implement your plans effectively when an active situation does arise.
Start strengthening your crisis communications today
No organization—no matter how big or small—is immune to a crisis. We all must make a conscious decision about how to navigate the looming volcanoes for our organizations. The course we chart will have significant ramifications. Now, more than ever, is the time to plan for a crisis.
Our expertise in crisis management has been developed and strengthened over the course of many years of hands-on experiences, from hot-button cultural issues to matters of employment. We would be honored to support your team in thoughtful preparation.