Guarding Nonprofits’ Reputations in Times of Crisis

To most news consumers, crisis communications is something for wayward football players, politicians and manufacturers of defective products. But a crisis can hit any company – and any nonprofit. And just as nonprofits are learning the importance of building a brand and a reputation through communications, they must understand the importance of protecting that reputation when bad luck or mistakes cause concern.

A crisis is any situation that threatens an organization’s integrity or reputation, a threat magnified by the potential for negative media attention. A crisis is usually unexpected and often escalates, with unpredictable elements increasing the stress and anxiety a nonprofit’s officers will experience as they respond. Today’s media environment, a 24/7 multi-media echo chamber of hashtags, viral video and capitalized outrage, has the potential to amplify bad news even more. To get a fair hearing for one’s side in a sensitive situation requires planning and discipline.

Any nonprofit is susceptible to a crisis. Many provide direct services to members of the public, often to the most vulnerable populations. Like all businesses, nonprofits put human beings capable of erring in positions of responsibility. Nonprofits raise and spend money, manage property and are subject to laws and regulations. By default, a nonprofit’s activities expose it to multiple levels of risk.

Some nonprofit leaders have already experienced a situation that posed a serious danger, and most others can easily imagine one. Imagining is one thing, but have you prepared?

Even if you feel prepared, having a detailed plan in place is essential. Preparing for a crisis is the best way to ensure that when one materializes, it can be minimized. Our founder Chris Hershey’s mantra that “Strategic Communications Starts at the Top” is particularly germane to crisis situations. An organization’s most senior leadership should be responsible for ensuring that crisis communications plans are in place.

Increasingly, our clients who engage Cause to create a communications plan are asking for a crisis preparation element. As part of the development process, we ask our clients what potential threats keep them up at night, and work with them to assess the likelihood of different “worst case” scenarios actually taking place. For the most likely occurrences, we show our clients how to develop messages and press statements in advance that can easily be adapted to real-world situations. We also teach them how to build a crisis team and what steps to take when a potentially damaging incident occurs.

The essence of effective crisis communications management is summarized by the maxim: “Tell it all, tell it fast, and tell the truth.” When something bad happens, a nonprofit’s strongest supporters will want to learn the news about it directly from the organization itself – first – whenever possible. As communications consultants to nonprofits, our job is to put our clients in position to react rapidly without sacrificing strategic focus. Preparation is the key to achieving a neutral or positive outcome at the end of a crisis.