COVID-19 Communications Checklist For Your Nonprofit

March 30, 2020 Maria Bryan

If you've never been in charge of communications during a crisis before, your head must be spinning. If you have, communications during a global pandemic like COVID-19 is still new territory.

Take a deep breath. You're not alone in questioning all of your coronavirus messaging.

As you're developing COVID-19 messages for your staff, community, donors, and partners, take the extra step of ensuring they align with these crisis communications best practices.

GREEN LIGHT

If your communications check off the following, they are a-go.

Be factual. During a health crisis, your audience needs facts. Avoid sharing opinions and insights on decisions made surrounding COVID-19. You don't want people to wade through your communications to learn what they need to know most.

Focus on factual information that is relevant to your organization and your audience. This likely includes service hour changes, cancelations, available support, and topline precautions your organization is taking.

Provide value. Keep your audience informed without adding to the noise. Instead of sending out COVID-19 blow-by-blows, be thoughtful of expertise you can bring to the table. That may be online homeschooling resources, stress management tools, or tips on working remotely.

How were you serving your community before COVID-19? Your mission should inform how you're helping them through this scary time.

Be empathetic. When preparing crisis communications, our first thought and goal is typically: what information must our organization get out to the public. Successful crisis communications needs to shift from being organization-centric to human-centric, and chock-full of empathy towards your audience.

Before sending out your next email newsletter or publishing your next blog post, ask yourself where your readers are emotionally. Is there a possibility they lost their job? Are they overwhelmed with juggling remote working and homeschooling while in close quarters? Are they anxious and depressed, and having trouble coping with each day's uncertainties?

You don't need to address these issues, but you do need to be mindful of them in your communications. Consider creating new audience personas for audience members experiencing the coronavirus pandemic.

Lead with your organization's values. Your organization has already made difficult decisions, like canceling galas, community events, and significantly reducing service hours. Some of these decisions were made for you, and there may be more complicated changes to come.

When you communicate big changes, do so in a way that puts your community first and explains why your organization is taking action.

Instead of leading with "Per governor's orders, we are shutting down our sites," try "You and your family's health is our top priority. These are the precautions we're taking."

YELLOW LIGHT

If you're the slightest bit unsure if a particular message is going to sit well with your audience, then slow down.

Be cautious and trust your gut. You're human. There will be times when your anxiety might dictate the kind of information you want to share. Or maybe you want to insert some humor to lighten your social media feeds.

Tisch Dean Allyson Green learned this the hard way last week when she sent students a video of herself dancing while addressing tuition concerns.

The rule of thumb is this: if it makes you even the tiniest bit uneasy, don't send it out.

Lila Tublin of Big Duck gives this sound advice:

"If you choose to communicate about COVID-19, think critically about the images and words you use. Avoid photography that may feed harmful stereotypes or panic about the virus and steer clear of sensationalist language. Be as specific, accurate, and empathetic as possible, and think about how your images will affect your audiences. If you're not sure, ask a colleague to review your piece and flag any concerns before it goes live."

RED LIGHT

If your communications are falling into these danger zones, press pause and reassess.

Don't use scare tactics. With anxiety high on a global level, fear is bound to lead to stigma and panic.

Provide factual information with empathy, and your audience will want to come to you again and again for the latest information they need to know.

The Opportunity Agenda gives communicators this call-to-action:

"As social justice leaders and communicators, it is our job to calmly and directly push back against the fear and stigma surrounding COVID-19 with powerful language of inclusion, empowerment, and justice. This will help us be allies to communities of color, immigrant communities, low-income communities, and incarcerated communities, who are likely to be disproportionately affected by this pandemic and the narrative surrounding it."

Don't be an expert if you're not one. As said previously, do share your expertise, but be sure it's appropriate to your organization and industry.

A hair salon recently sent me an email with coronavirus precautions I should take, and I unsubscribed immediately. It felt opportunistic and irrelevant to its brand. As someone who becomes overwhelmed by information overload, I did not appreciate their unsolicited health advice in my mailbox!

Instead, use your voice and influence to amplify crucial messages from health and medical leaders and experts. Better yet, direct your followers and readers to get health information from the most credible sources, like the CDC, WHO, and OSHA.

Don't go silent. A list of coronavirus communications dos and don't is unnerving. You might feel like slinking back for a while to be safe. I want to remind you that you have much value to give your audience. They are likely looking to your organization for both resources and reassurance. Even when information is limited, be present and transparent, and above all—be genuine.

If there's a time when nonprofit communicators are playing a crucial role in society, it's now. You're not always going to get it right, and that's ok. Empathy and thoughtfulness are going to go a long way to build credibility and trust.

Be well.