How to respond when disaster strikes

A badly handled crisis is one of the greatest risks to any organisation’s reputation.

Especially in the charity sector, your reputation is everything.

While crises can’t always be avoided, the damage can be minimised. How? With a well-thought-out crisis communications plan.

Crisis planning 101

Before we dive into crisis planning, what constitutes a crisis?

‘A crisis is an event or scandal that has the potential to disrupt your organisation’s activity, negatively affect your finances, and ultimately damage your reputation.’

The charity sector has been hit by a raft of crises in recent years, from safeguarding concerns, to  allegations of racism, sexual misconduct and high pressure fundraising tactics.

The charities involved have hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons, losing donors, volunteers, and key funders as a result.

If you want to avoid the same fate, an effective crisis plan can help minimise the fallout.

Here are a few pointers:

1.     Be prepared

Do the planning now so you’re on the front foot if crisis strikes. This means putting together a risk register and crisis response protocol. 

Your risk register is essentially a list of all the terrible things that could happen because of your charity’s activities, such as: 

• operational issues 

• issues with suppliers, partners, or stakeholders 

• an external event or action by a third party that could have a significant effect on your organisation 

• reputational issues as a result of public scrutiny (because of alleged mismanagement of funds, racism etc)

You then need to decide: 

a) what you can do to minimise the likelihood of them happening

b) how you will respond if the worst happens

The crisis response protocol should lay out who needs to be involved in the response, the channels you’ll use and how you’ll deal with any questions or challenges. 

2.     Respond quickly

When something kicks off, don’t sit back, and wait for the story to take on a life of its own before stepping in. If there’s even a whiff of a scandal, issue a statement immediately explaining what’s happened and what your organisation is doing to put it right.

3.     Take responsibility

If your organisation is at fault, don’t lie, say ‘no comment’ or issue half-hearted denials.

Manage the situation professionally by issuing a statement taking responsibility, acknowledging people’s concerns and apologising.

Then follow-up with a plan of action. Share what steps will be taken to fix the issue and ensure it doesn’t happen again.

4.     Keep stakeholders informed

Keep your stakeholders (donors, funders, staff) updated as the crisis unfolds. Tell them what’s being done to manage it and by whom. If possible, have daily meetings or calls so everyone’s on top of the situation.

5.     Get professional help

If you don’t have anyone in your team with crisis communications experience, consider bringing in an external consultant to help you formulate a plan. After all, if a crisis gets out of hand, the consequences can be disastrous (as Kids Company proved).

Life would be so much easier if disaster struck with fair warning. But sadly, that's not the case. If you need a professional fundraiser with crisis comms experience, give Bamboo a call on 0203 750 3111