A Checklist of To-Dos & A Framework of Questions
Editor's Note: Today we are cross-posting an excellent checklist of to-dos and a framework of questions for nonprofit leaders as they grapple with COVID-19 response, written by our Brooke Richie-Babbage. Brooke leads our Sterling Network NYC and consults frequently to small and mid-size nonprofits and social enterprises. The piece originally appeared on LinkedIn, and can be accessed here.
This is a moment of great anxiety, and in my work with small and mid-sized nonprofits and social enterprises, everyone is on edge. Leaders are scrambling to figure out what to do first, how to transition to working remotely, how to support their teams, how to keep boards informed, how to stay connected to the communities in which they work, how to respond to dramatic shifts in their finances and fundraising… all of the things. As part of all of this, there are so many questions to ask, tasks to complete and decisions to make - it can all feel overwhelming.
In this article, I'm offering a checklist of the to-do items to think about in these initial weeks of responding to COVID-19, as well as a brief framework of crowdsourced questions from EDs on the ground to guide your own planning and decision-making in the coming weeks.
This article is static and truncated. A full downloadable version of this checklist, with more information and links to resources, can be accessed in a google doc here. The google doc is a living version of this checklist that will be updated with links and resources as things continue to unfold.
Take Stock
Who needs what on your team? Reach out to each person on your team to find out:
How are they feeling?
Do they have the equipment they need to work from home? Consider a small stipend to support this transition and help your team buy chairs or desks for home.
Do they need to use some time during the initial transition to address critical changes in their own households and families? Consider loosening work hours for the initial weeks of this time; Offer additional PTO to allow people to sort of child care, etc.
What do your part-time, front line, and non-traditional staff need to feel secure during this time?
Who needs what in your community? Do an initial information sweep:
Reach out to your clients/ constituents/ program participants to hear about their most immediate concerns and needs.
Reach out to key community partners and organizations to identify the most immediate community needs.
Start a running google doc list so that these stay front and center as you do your initial planning. Identify someone on your staff to triage and coordinate rapid response by dividing the list into three buckets: (1) The items on the list that your organization can address immediately; (2) The items that your organization can address, but not immediately; (3) The items on the list that your organization is not best positioned to address, and any community partners or resources that you can recommend instead.
Communicate with and activate your Board
How can they reach out to people in their networks to gather information about needs, challenges, and questions?
How can the information help you shape your scenario planning and messaging?
Make the Shift To Working From Home
If your team is large enough, create a core response team.
These will be the point people to help with communications and keeping in touch with the larger team.
Decide how core functions will be addressed:
How will checks be written, signed, received and processed?
How will invoices be processed?
Can you close your office altogether or do changes need to be made in how your physical space is used?
Set up processes to help your team function remotely. These should not be complicated or overwhelming! You need four things:
Minimal tech to start: (1) Google Docs + Google Drive; (2) A tool to support non-email, rapid communication: Get a Slack account; (3) A tool to support virtual meetings: Get a Zoom account or use Google Hangouts/Meet; (4) A centralized information “hub," such as Google Drive or Dropbox
Key processes & expectations: Write down processes that you expect more than one person to need to follow. Keep these processes in one place: I recommend Google Drive.
An initial weekly meeting structure. This may change but establishing a routine early on will help minimize anxiety.
Make key structural decisions & changes
Will you cancel or postpone your gala/ event?
Make a list of your key sponsors, donors, and supporters and reach out to them 1-by-1 to discuss maintaining their commitment
If you decide to postpone, and your gala is moved to a new fiscal year, contact your auditor to understand the accounting implications of the shift.
Make sure to discuss force majeure with your venue and vendors
Decide how you will handle payroll for part-time and non-traditional staff.
Determine who will continue to get paid, for how long, and how will that happen?
Communicate decisions with impacted people as early as possible to reduce anxiety.
Review contracts with program partners and consultants.
Determine what alterations may need to be made to account for work that will be postponed or canceled. For example: Will you pay up-front for paused work and agree with contractors/ partners to provide the work at a later date? Will you cancel contracts altogether?
Conduct fundraising triage
Reach out to current funders and donors to reiterate the importance of continued support
Be explicit with current funders about your organizational needs and about how you’d like them to help. For example: Changing program funding to Gen Ops; Extending funding for additional months/ an additional year; Relaxing expectations around deliverables and outcomes for the current program year; and Providing emergency funding to offset lost revenue and the cost of payroll for PT, frontline, and non-traditional workers.
Use data to support the continuing needs that you’re meeting
Look for ways to align the needs of your communities with the underlying issues that are being highlighted in this crisis
Begin to identify alternatives to in-person fundraising events.
Consider things such as virtual galas, video auctions, crowdfunding campaigns, etc..
Set up systems to make it very easy for donors to support you.
Consider Paypal & Venmo especially.
Activate your board.
Identify key people on your board to be point people through this time. Deputize them to keep the full board up to date on key information. Consider the following:
Board Chair + people who are great ambassadors for your organization: Get their help with reaching out to existing donors and supporters and communicating the ongoing need.
Fundraising Chair (If you don’t have an official fundraising committee or chair, ID 1-2 people are great donors/ ambassadors on your board): Get their help as thought partners in your fundraising scenario planning.
Finance Chair (If you don’t have an official finance committee or chair, ID someone who is great with finance): Get their help with financial modeling, as well as with communicating financial updates to your full board.
Communications Chair (If you don’t have an official communications committee or chair, ID someone who is great with marketing and/or strategic communications): Get their help with developing messaging and communications strategy for key audiences throughout this time.
Begin your scenario planning. You’ll want four basic plans:
Best-case and worst-case program planning
Bring your Program Director into this planning process.
Reach out to key program partners to understand how they are thinking about, and planning around, program changes.
Best-case and worst-case financial/ budget planning:
Rather than starting with expense scenarios and mapping out the revenue that will be needed, start with revenue scenarios and map the implication for expenses. This will help create clarity for conversations with supporters and will take the pressure off of cutting expenses as the first step in your planning.
Bring your Development Director and other key staff who have insight into sources of funding (if you have one) into this planning.
Tap board members who are good with finances to help you do some modeling.
Do important policy “audits/checks”
Sick Leave & Disability Policy
Do you need to make changes to your sick leave policy?
Do you have a disability policy that will allow you to provide meaningful support to any staff that gets sick?
Paid Time Off
Do you need to make short term changes to your PTO policies in these initial weeks to make sure that staff has the time to address changes in their own lives?
Do you need to make changes to your long term PTO policy to account for the new situation?
Work From Home
What will your Long-Term WFH policy look like?
Finally, as a recap, here is a suggested outline of a framework of key questions -crowdsourced from leaders on the ground - to make sure you ask in these initial weeks.
Leadership/ Management
How do I shift to remote work for my team?
What does this look like in practice – How do we hold meetings?
How do we keep work moving forward?
What resources do I need to effectively lead/ manage?
What does my staff need to work effectively?
Programs
What do people in our communities need?
How do we keep our programs running?
What does the work look like moving forward?
Program scenario planning – best and worst-case scenarios?
Fundraising
How do we maintain relationships with donors when they have their own issues/ questions/ challenges?
Shift to virtual galas and online fundraising strategies?
Messaging around the need during this time?
How do we communicate with existing funders?
Finance/ Accounting
What is the impact of postponing our gala on this fiscal year and on our next fiscal year?
Financial/ budget scenario planning?
HR
How to support my team?
Mental health resources to avoid isolation?
How to ensure payment of frontline workers?
How do we pay non-traditional workers?
What is an effective WFH policy?
How do we respond to/ support sick employees and staff who have sick impacted family members?