by Julie Kennon
We can't predict or avoid getting walloped by a crisis, but we can plan how we'll respond.
Budget cuts. Spending freezes. Tornados, floods, and wildfires. Leadership scandals.
Nonprofits are uniquely vulnerable to crises. Your success depends on public trust; voluntary financial support through donations; federal, state, and corporate support; a committed staff and board; and, often, a strong volunteer base. Any crisis that hits can erode one or more of those pillars.
If you’ve heard the saying, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail,” you’ve got a good idea of the direction this article is headed. You, as a nonprofit executive, team member, or board member, can’t unfreeze spending or single-handedly provide relief to starving children or flooded grandmas.
What can you do?
You can implement a basic crisis communications plan for your organization. While this won’t protect you from threats, it will offer you a systematic, thought-out response when a crisis hits. And that’s what we will walk you through here!
Please note: Scale this blueprint as needed. You likely won’t have a crisis response team with dozens of members; you might just have you. That’s okay! Having a plan, even a back-of-the-napkin list, works.
How to Build a Basic Crisis Communications Plan
At its most basic, a crisis communication plan identifies different crises that could affect your nonprofit and walks through the steps you can take to respond. Like any plan, it’s a living document that should be reviewed and updated regularly.
As the name implies, a crisis communications plan helps you plan how you will communicate in a crisis. A crisis management plan explores how you will respond. Both are critical.
According to the Nonprofit Risk Management Center, “A crisis communications plan aids quick response, clear thinking and inclusiveness under fire. It works hand-in-hand with a disaster plan to mitigate (or reduce) the damages, focusing on presenting the situation in the best possible light.”
Can we provide a basic crisis management plan, too? Sure. If this plan is helpful, let us know, and we’ll create a companion piece.
In the meantime, let’s look at the steps you’ll take to create a comms plan.
Step 1: Conduct a Risk Assessment and Prioritize Potential Threats
While every organization is different, there are some common crisis buckets that most nonprofits should consider.
- Financial crises include loss of funding, internal mismanagement of funds, or fraud.
- Reputational crises include scandals, controversial positions or partnerships, and social media backlash.
- Operational crises, such as event cancellations, security breaches, or damage to facilities holding donations.
- External threats, such as legal challenges, natural disasters, or political or social tides turning against your mission.
Of course, there are significant threats that might not fit in one of these categories, but it’s a list to help you think through potential crises that could affect your nonprofit.
Note: We’ve put all these steps into an easy-to-use, free worksheet. Check it out!
The first step on the worksheet is to conduct a risk assessment and prioritize likely threats. If, for example, you don’t rely on any grants, losing them isn’t a concern of yours. If, however, you are a food bank in an area prone to natural disasters, losing your inventory might be a threat.
Take some time to sit with your team and identify those threats that keep you up at night. Then consider how likely they are to impact your organization (low, medium, high) and the potential impact (low, medium, high).
Think through potential consequences. Canceling a gala might mean a loss of fundraising dollars, while a data breach might mean a loss of donor trust. Consider any consequences that might be impactful and detail them.
Finally, think about what you can do today to mitigate potential crises.
For example, worried about a data breach? Make sure your forms are PCI compliant, ask your payment processor if they’re compliant, and ensure you’ve enabled fraud protection. Those mitigating steps might be enough to prevent the crisis in the first place, so walk through step 1 thoughtfully.
Step 2: Build a Communication Strategy
In your mind, imagine an impending crisis. Who do you want to call first? Who should be around you?
Start with a Crisis Response Team
A few tips: you need decision-makers – an executive director, board member, or president. There is little time for red tape and protocol when a quick response is necessary. Here are some roles you might want to consider; these might not align with internal responsibilities but might make sense in a crisis.
For example, you might have a sharp volunteer coordinator who is well-spoken and calm under pressure. This person might be a great spokesperson. Consider natural talents as well as professional skills.
- The Crisis Team Leader will oversee the response, coordinate the team, ensure plans are followed, and make decisions or have direct access to decision-makers.
- The primary Spokesperson will handle external inquiries. This includes inquiries from donors and other stakeholders.
- A Communications Lead may or may not be the spokesperson. This individual is responsible for messaging, social media, and outgoing updates.
- If necessary, a Legal Advisor can provide guidance on risks, compliance, and liability concerns.
- An IT or Security Specialist can run point on data breaches, fraud, and technology-related issues.
- Your Operations Lead can make sure programs and services run smoothly.
- An HR Representative can address internal concerns and communicate with staff.
- A Board Liaison is responsible for keeping the board informed and ensuring strategic alignment between your team and the board.
Now, we recognize that only the largest nonprofits will go through their team roster and slate people into each position. Most of you will have to be a little scrappy. In the smallest nonprofits, your team can consist of two people. Or just you!
The point of the list is to show you roles that might come into play. It doesn’t say you need a different person in each role.
Identify Communication Channels
Now that you know the roles being filled, consider the channels that will be used to communicate. These will differ for every nonprofit (and every potential crisis) but should be listed.
We divide the channels into two audiences: internal and external.
Internal means your team and board. The people filling the HR Rep and Board Liaison roles might manage internal comms.
External means stakeholders, donors, volunteers, the media, the public. Community and corporate partners. Vendors. This might pull in other roles, such as legal or IT.
Under each, consider how the audiences like to be recognized or contacted, and list those channels. They can include:
- Website
- Social Media
- Press/Press Release
- Direct Donor Outreach
- Telephone or Text Contact
Perhaps you add direct mail or other forms of outreach. You know how your audiences like interacting with your nonprofit because of your successful multichannel campaigns, right?! The same rules apply: Segment your audience and note how each wants to be contacted. That will make step 3 easier.
Step 3: Craft Your Core Crisis Messaging
Now, this might seem silly. You have no idea what’s going to happen, so how are you supposed to craft messaging?
While you can’t predict every detail of a crisis, you can develop core messaging and frameworks that apply across scenarios. Then you can develop answers to questions you can use when and if a crisis hits.
You’ll start by establishing key messaging pillars that form the foundation of any response.
- What are three to five core values of your organization? These can be things like donor stewardship, mission impact, trust, etc.
- Develop broad, adaptable statements that align with these values.
- “Our donors are our top priority, and we pledge transparency.”
- “Nothing is more critical than our mission, and we will put every available resource in place to maximize our impact.”
- Prepare statements that can be the second sentence after your broad statement, and do this for each potential threat you identified.
- Add these core messaging pillars to your plan.
How to Implement Your Crisis Communications Plan
Something has happened, and you need to pull out the plan and implement it. Where do you start?
Fortunately, you’ll find that you’re well prepared to counter this crisis fast. Here's where you might start:
Contain the Crisis
- Assess the situation. What are the facts, and what is the severity?
- Activate your crisis response team. Call them all in and ensure they’re up to speed.
- Ensure safety and security. If there’s a natural disaster, for example, account for everyone and ensure they’re safe.
- Control the narrative. This means you keep the facts close to your vest and your team. You can issue a statement acknowledging the situation but not providing details until you’re ready. You can still pledge transparency and take time to craft your messaging.
- Stop all scheduled communications. While it would be an honest mistake, it could cause significant damage if an automated email or social media post goes out during a crisis.
Confirm Key Messaging
- Review key messaging pillars. You will have these ready to go if you have a plan in place.
- Tailor additional messaging. Depending on what’s happening, consider what you’re going to say to key groups:
- Donors and Supporters
- Staff and Volunteers
- Board Members
- Media, Community Members, the Public
Craft Communication Protocols
This forces you to think through who needs to know what and how they should find out.
- Who needs to be updated first? By whom? Can you have a phone tree to disseminate information fast?
- How will internal updates be shared? Email, meetings, a secure employee site?
- Offer guidelines to staff. Provide clear direction on what can and cannot be said publicly.
- Is the media involved? Who will prepare and deliver a statement?
This exercise will help you ensure the right people know and have the correct information.
And this leads you into a crisis management plan, which executes on your communications planning.
Post-Crisis Recovery and Plan
While this article won’t replace a full-blown, comprehensive crisis communications plan, it is an excellent place to start.
Once you’ve weathered a crisis, large or small, it’s critical to do a post-mortem and jot down lessons learned. There are many lessons you can’t learn until you go through fire, so they’re extraordinarily valuable and should be documented.
- Consider what worked and didn’t work from your communications plan's perspective. Are there processes you can improve? Team members who impressed you?
- What would you do differently?
- Have any actions precipitated this crisis?
- Can you change policies or make security improvements to prevent this from happening again?
- Are there internal personnel changes indicated?
Once you’ve done this, adjust your plan so it reflects your most current thoughts.
If you’ve reviewed all this guidance and want a more comprehensive resource, this guide from Nonprofits Insurance Alliance is helpful.
Stay Calm but Be Prepared
A crisis will never feel convenient, but it doesn’t have to catch your nonprofit off guard. With a thoughtful, flexible communication plan, you can respond with clarity, speed, and compassion—preserving trust and minimizing damage.
Whether you're a team of twenty or a one-person powerhouse, your ability to steady the ship starts with preparation. Take the time now to build your plan, download the worksheet, and get your team aligned.
The best time to prepare was yesterday! Craft your plan, and then you’ll know you’re ready.
