Does your nonprofit have an up-to-date succession plan? If not, you are not alone. Many small to medium sized nonprofits do not have an active plan and considering the uncertainty and unpredictability COVID-19 presents to our sector, it’s more important now than ever. This week’s RoR offers a few suggestions and templates for you to consider.
Welcome to Issue 7 of Resources of Relevance
(COVID-19-related Resources to Help You Sustain Your Nonprofit through the Pandemic.
I hope your long weekend was enjoyable and that you aren’t having as difficult a time getting back into the swing of things like I am. Something about having a perfect-weather holiday full of outdoor adventures makes getting back to work that much harder. I’m appreciative though because I realize how fickle Northern Michigan weather can be.
Thank you for taking a look at the resources I’ve gathered for Issue 7. Please share with your colleagues.
And as always, may you remain healthy and know you are greatly appreciated.
– Julie Ann
FUND DEVELOPMENT, MARKETING & FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY
On June 2nd, the Chronicle of Philanthropy is hosting a free briefing to help nonprofits keep supporters engaged with your virtual offerings. “How to Make Online Gatherings More Compelling” will cover the fine details of creating a good online experience, how to use voices and visuals to maximum advantage, and what you can learn from radio to make webinars better. Sign up here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_b-FvGnvsRXGdOAKKOqt9kA?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=campaign_1247382&cid=pt&source=ams&sourceId=5221913
Are hashtags sill confusing you? Are you wanting to learn how to align hashtags with your marketing message? If so, check out the Nonprofit Marketing Guide’s “The Five Types of Hashtags You Should Be Using.” https://www.nonprofitmarketingguide.com/blog/2020/05/13/the-five-types-of-hashtags-you-should-be-using/?inf_contact_key=4aa1f11899a9267a8a4ffb69a4b7f926d18a532c4142cb79caf2b269de1401fa
There’s fine line when it comes to crafting appropriate email marketing campaigns during a pandemic. Read Bloomerang’s “How Nonprofits are Doing Email Marketing Right During a Crisis” for ideas on how to create well-crafted, memorable messages for the current environment. https://bloomerang.co/blog/how-nonprofits-are-doing-email-marketing-right-during-a-crisis/
LEADERSHIP & POLICY
Although written primarily for for-profit organizations, this Harvard Business Review piece titled, “Your CEO Succession Plan Can’t Wait” is just as relevant to our world when it comes to the importance of succession planning. https://hbr.org/2020/05/your-ceo-succession-plan-cant-wait
Speaking of succession plans, of the hundreds of small to medium nonprofits I’ve worked with over the years, many do not have an active plan and considering the uncertainty and unpredictability COVID-19 presents to our sector, it’s more important now than ever. If your organization doesn’t have a plan, or is interested in updating it to reflect the current crisis, see the two resources below:
Clarity Transitions is offering their “COVID-19 Emergency Succession Plan” template for free. The plan has three parts – a formal designation of the CEO’s temporarily acting successors, a template for staff succession or splitting of duties, and a short emergency operations check list.
https://www.claritytransitions.net/free-covid-19-emergency-succession-plan.html
Find the Bridgespan Group’s nonprofit succession planning tools here: https://www.bridgespan.org/insights/library/nonprofit-management-tools-and-trends/succession-planning
Positively Positive poses what I found to be an essential question in “Gentle Productivity: How to Be Productive without Being Hard on Yourself.” What are my implicit expectations around work and how well are they working for me? Personally, I find this question uber relevant. The author goes on to explain that the problem with expectations is that we rarely examine them AND we rarely update these adopted expectations to meet the needs of our unique personality, values and contexts in the present. Click the link to read about a few principles for gentle productivity that “might help you in your work or wherever you aspire to be more productive.” https://www.positivelypositive.com/2020/05/14/gentle-productivity-how-to-be-productive-without-being-hard-on-yourself/?inf_contact_key=79f5b49b1a9546c654c32b42ed0e9a927e470d92b8b75168d98a0b8cac0e9c09
Joan Garry released part 1 of a two-part podcast about “How to Have Difficult Conversations.” Sheila Heen, co-author of the best-selling book Difficult Conversations and Lecturer at the Harvard Law School, is the guest. During this episode, she explores how to build the muscle to make sure difficult conversations go well. https://blog.joangarry.com/ep-109-difficult-conversations-part-1-with-sheila-heen/?_fs=3432e744-b12f-4384-b1df-d4d57892208a&_ga=2.207758034.1905854924.1590607720-587359663.1587669095
EQUITY, INCLUSION, & SOCIAL JUSTICE
One of the things I consistently look for when researching articles on inequity and exclusion is practical information on how to dismantle such issues. The American Psychological Association’s “How Psychologists Can Combat the Racial Inequities of the COVID-19 Crisis” moves beyond identifying the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on people of color by offering what psychologists may do to counter disparities. The advice doesn’t just apply to psychologists though. Instead, the information is relevant across fields. For example, “when reaching out to communities of color, all psychologists should understand history and our place within it.” Seeking to understand one’s own “positionality,” (a term referring to one’s place in the racial and sociocultural hierarchy) is relevant whether you are a psychologist or not. The article continues to explain that “we all have our own biases and prejudices, but to break the cycle of inequality and discrimination, we need to show cultural humility.” To read more examples, click this link: https://www.apa.org/topics/covid-19/racial-inequities
Texas was one of the first states to re-open, so NPR looked to the state to examine COVID-19 testing disparities. NPR investigated the location of public testing sites to see how they were distributed. The investigation found that in four out of six of the largest cities in Texas, testing sites are disproportionately located in whiter neighborhoods. This again highlights the inequities people of color are facing whether related to testing access, care or how the virus has thus far disproportionately infected and killed black and Hispanic Americans. The audio piece “In Large Texas Cities, Access To Coronavirus Testing May Depend On Where You Live” is less than 5 minutes and can be found here: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/05/27/862215848/across-texas-black-and-hispanic-neighborhoods-have-fewer-coronavirus-testing-sit
The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), a non-profit organization that focuses on national health issues, conducted a survey that found larger shares of women are worrying about the negative consequences of the coronavirus and taking greater precautions than men. KFF says that, “the findings of the survey reinforce much of what we have known about the impact that balancing multiple responsibilities – often without a safety net — has on women. The COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on the gaps in workplace supports, such as paid sick and family leave, as well as the lack of affordable childcare and long-term care supports. In the absence of a long-term policy response, these issues will persist long after the urgency of the pandemic has passed.” To review the survey results in more detail, click below:
https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/issue-brief/coronavirus-a-look-at-gender-differences-in-awareness-and-actions/
MENTAL HEALTH
During last week’s virtual workshop “Phases of Disaster Management & Essential Considerations for Today’s Leaders” I shared information on each phase of disaster management and lessons I’ve learned from various disasters I’ve responded to. Although the breadth of COVID-19 is unlike anything we’ve every experienced, there are similar characteristics in every disaster such as its phases. It was humbling to find that the Psychiatric Times is sharing similar information with their readers. Learn more about the phases and how they relate specifically to the pandemic in “Dear Mental Health Innovators: The COVID-19 Honeymoon Is Almost Over.” Then, if you are interested in learning more, keep an eye out for another virtual training I’ll be offering in June!
https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/disaster-psychiatry/dear-mental-health-innovators-covid-19-honeymoon-almost-over?rememberme=1&GUID=C39FAFC1-1A30-4B32-84A3-CB29F7D82067
The World Economic Forum article, “Lockdown is the World’s Biggest Psychological Experiment – and We Will Pay the Price” shares fascinating data on toxic stress and the mental toll of quarantine. What’s most interesting about this piece is that they also refer to the significance of the phases of response to disaster.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/this-is-the-psychological-side-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-that-were-ignoring/
The boundless creativity that has emerged as a result of the pandemic is truly inspirational. One virtual example related to caring for our mental health is the Belgian website “Everyone OK” created by trauma expert Elke Van Hoof. The website explains their reasoning behind the project as follows: The coronavirus crisis is making us feel uneasy. It’s understandable, because we live on top of one another, we’re experiencing uncertainty and we feel powerless. To make sure everyone can continue functioning in their day-to-day life, we’re offering a first-line support framework in the form of an intervention. The intervention was built based on scientific techniques that are proven to be effective in the processing of trauma. It includes a comprehensive questionnaire to determine your resiliency and an option to prepare a step-by-step plan. https://www.everyoneok.be/