You need to be proactive right now.

It’s essential that every nonprofit start adjusting goals and strategy to the current circumstances.

I beg you: do not wait to put a plan in place until we’re 3 months down the line and you’re seeing a dramatic contraction of your giving.

We certainly don’t know what the future holds, but here are a few actionable steps you can take NOW to mitigate the impact of this virus on your organization - and grow your community and your donors’ respect in the process.

• Adjust your 2020 programming and financial goals.

Sit down with your team (virtually, of course), and take a hard look at the next 3 months. Acknowledge that you will most likely need to exercise a level of flexibility and creativity that is unusual. Acknowledge that some of your goals and plans may need to be thrown out the window for a period of time.

Once you’ve made those admissions, play this virus out to its fullest potential for the people you serve - and for your staff, your donors, your volunteers. What might each of those groups need from you at this time? How will you adjust your services to meet needs during this period?

To very loosely paraphrase Victor Frankl, stop asking the circumstances to fit your expectations and start asking what the current circumstances are expecting of YOU.

Make a plan. Decide what you need to implement right now. Decide what you need to start planning for and assign those responsibilities. Plan to meet every few days to reassess. Flexibility is the name of the game.

• Provide regular updates to donors about how the virus is impacting your organization and how you’re adapting.

Please do not pretend that the coronavirus is not happening and that it is not affecting your organization. Please do not continue with your regularly scheduled “programming” on social media.

Your donors and your online followers are your partners in your work. Just as when you leave your personal life partners out of the loop of what’s going on in your life it creates distance and a disconnect, you do the same with your donors and followers when you pretend something isn’t happening.

On the flip side, though, when you communicate - honestly, openly, and with some vulnerability - about what’s going on, you create the opportunity to deepen connection and loyalty.

Let followers know how your funding, programming, and events are affected; let them know what special needs your clients have as a result of the virus and how you’re responding to those needs.

Provide these updates on your website and through email. Use these as the basis of your social media posts. Email and website updates are primary; social media is secondary.

(This is a solid piece of communications strategy in ANY circumstance, but it bears repeating here. People who have signed up for your email list or who are giving regularly need an email from you when you want to communicate with them. A social media post is not as effective or as personal.)

• Convey to donors how important their gifts are.

Contact major donors personally and ask for a gift to help you weather this crisis and continue doing the work that means so much to them and to your community. Be honest and transparent. Be sensitive to the financial stress they may also be facing, but don’t assume your donors don’t want to help.

Create an email for your monthly donors to communicate how valuable their support is during uncertain times like this. Assure them that you are using their resources in clear-headed, practical ways to meet this crisis. Share specific needs that the virus is creating for your nonprofit and provide the opportunity to give.

Make sure that these donors are getting a thank you email every month after their gift. (You should be doing this always, but it is crucial that you make it very clear in this season especially that you need the stability their gift provides.)

Create an email for infrequent donors thanking them for their gifts in the past. Assure them that you are still here, still working to do good work in your community and that you offer a unique way for them to do something meaningful for their community in the midst of a very challenging time.

Don’t stop asking for new donations. You may need to adjust some methods, but don’t assume that people aren’t looking for ways to help during this crisis. Provide dynamic, creative approaches to solving the challenges that coronavirus creates, and allow your followers to join you in that work.

• Begin work on diversifying fundraising now.

This crisis will force nonprofits to start plugging the gaps in their fundraising strategy. You can start doing this 6 months from now, or you can start now.

Maybe you have some solid grant money but few monthly givers; now’s the time to develop and implement a strategy for growing that donor base.

That may seem crazy, but it takes TIME to develop, implement, and then tweak a strategy (and then tweak it again) before it really starts paying off. TIME is something you might have right now as programs and events slow down. USE it to your future advantage.

• Be a leader and an advocate for all nonprofits.

Communicate with your fellow nonprofit leaders and help one another. Brainstorm together and share resources and ideas. You may need to get creative about collaborating in ways you haven’t had to in the past in order to be effective now. Be willing to ask for help when you need it. That will free others up to admit that they’re struggling, too.

Who do you need to check in with today?

Reach out to your elected officials asking for assistance to continue your work. Use this letter as a resource for your own advocacy.

This crisis will pass. Maybe in two weeks; maybe in two months. In the meantime, you have the opportunity to find new ways to serve your community and to grow as a leader. Make decisions now that you’ll be proud of in a year.

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