Nonprofit Strategy Guide to Surviving COVID-19
The way we live and communicate has changed. When the virus is gone, for many, life will not go back to the way it was. It’s time for creativity and finding ways to leverage change to achieve your mission and even more impact.
Many businesses that supported nonprofits will have gone out of business. Individual volunteers and donors may be looking for work. Government budgets will be slashed. And the needs of the communities you serve may have changed completely.
The services you offered for years may no longer be what the community needs most. Are you ready to pivot?
With greatly reduced income and increased need, nonprofits may have to find new ways to deliver outcomes — whether evolving existing programs, embracing technology, or partnering with businesses. Thinking beyond current parameters is crucial.
Amidst the rush to plug the holes, it’s also time to step back and explore the big picture.
1. Communicate effectively with your constituents
Let your participants, partners, donors, and other stakeholders know how the COVID-19 situation is affecting your organization and what you are doing about it. Remember that the needs of the people who you are serving, or your other audiences, may have changed. Let them know how you are adapting to address their needs.
2. Re-imagine your future
Prioritize what you need to do to keep afloat, but also take concrete steps to re-imagine your future. Whether forming a strategy committee or soliciting input from staff — get new ideas flowing. A good question to ask: If we had to start an organization from scratch to address the same problem, what would that organization look like? How can funding be put to use to maximize our impact?
3. Rethink both your short-term needs and long-term goals
Addressing your immediate cash flow and other needs is crucial, but it’s also an opportunity to rethink your overall strategy for delivering impact. Organizations that will come out ahead in the end, will be the ones that have a compelling vision that maps to this new reality and inspires donors. Financially lean organizations are often more creative in their approaches, so leverage this chance to slay sacred cows, abandon ineffective ways, and forge bold plans for solving problems and delivering impact.
4. Engage your board
Now is a good time to engage your board so that they have skin in the game. Your board needs to provide leadership through these troubling times, set an example for others (particularly with their continued financial commitments), be effective ambassadors representing the organization to funders and the public, and actively participate in the organization — it’s all hands on deck. This can be an opportunity to bring your board to life, improve communications between board and staff, and eliminate the deadwood.
5. Decide which staff members will be able to safely return to work first
The governor of New York is thinking about a phased restart. Younger people or those who have developed antibodies to COVID-19 may be allowed back while vulnerable workers are still in isolation. Reassign staff so the skills of first returnees can be best used in getting top priority programs up and running.
6. Adapt your fundraising approaches
If everyone is hurting financially, funding will become more difficult, but not impossible. Express empathy for your donors and create connections — we are all in this together. People still have philanthropic desires, and there are still ways to fulfill those desires — pledges for the future, smaller monthly gifts rather than larger single ones, in-kind contributions, volunteering, stocks that can appreciate in value, and other ways.
7. Experiment
Now is the time to find new ways to deliver more services or impact for less money. Nonprofits previously stifled by the fear of failure are now free to experiment with new methods. Use this opportunity wisely. Document your process for developing new ideas. Record what’s working and what’s not and report back to your stakeholders. Celebrate your successes, and use the opportunity to cultivate a culture of experimentation that can lead to breakthroughs in addressing the problem.
8. Ask and listen
Keep your ear to the ground. Ask your constituents how their needs have changed and what can be done to fulfill them, don’t assume. Check out your competition (ahem, organizations with similar missions), to see how they are adapting. What ideas and best practices are emerging? How can your organization be positioned to lead in its field?
Your business model, strategy, and brand are more important than ever. How will your organization adapt? Red Rooster Group has been helping nonprofit organizations through three recessions over the past 20 years. If we can be of help to you, let us know.
Originally published in NonprofitPRO.
TOOLS
Here’s a list of free or discounted tools for working remotely.
