A public relations disaster can bring any organization to it’s knees, and nowhere is this more true than not-for-profits. A critical component of surviving negative attention is responding to it in a thoughtful and timely way. One of the best ways to achieve this is to have a fully-developed crisis communication plan.

Non-profits live off the good will they develop with their donors, constituents and the community, and a violation of trust with any of these can spell disaster. The best way to respond when these incidents occur is to have a crisis communication plan already in place. Here are 5 important reasons why you need to create a crisis communication plan:

• Sooner or later, a crisis will come – Negative events are a virtual certainty for every organization. Whether it’s an errant post to social media or an embarrassing revelation about someone on your board, at some point in time something negative will happen. In the wake of such incidents, how your organization is thought of is largely dependent on how you confront them and respond.
  
  
• Have your act together – In this day and age of around the clock news coverage and nearly instantaneous social media coverage, a news event can spread around the globe in minutes. When a crisis arises, you don’t have long to respond before the internet “owns the narrative.” You need to be able to respond quickly and clearly and that can be difficult to do if you’re not prepared.
  
  
• A crisis may limit your ability to respond – Depending on the nature of the crisis, it may be difficult to develop a response. For example, if a natural disaster strikes and impacts your organization’s infrastructure, you may be unable to develop a response and communicate it. If the pieces are already in place, the process of who will speak and what they will say is largely already managed.
  
  
• People are counting on you – The people who depend on your organization need to hear from you. People who have donated time or money need to hear from you. This is especially true if your non-profit provides life-saving or vital services that people rely on to survive. How will a crisis impact them?
  
  
• Without a crisis plan, you may not survive – A loss of faith or trust can destroy a non-profit. Your ability to fulfill your organization’s mission may be jeopardized if you do not properly manage a critical incident. A proper, timely and thorough response may be the only thing that shores up public trust and enables you to survive. In the absence of a proper response, people may assume the worst.

If your organization hasn’t developed a crisis communication plan, you need to do so immediately. Critical incidents don’t come with a warning. Taking proactive steps to develop a crisis communication may be the only thing that helps your organization to survive.

For additional resources or guidance, contact your Zinner Not-for-Profit expert.