Crisis Management for Nonprofits

What you’ll learn

• Map the crisis lifecycle — prepare, respond, recover — and what each phase demands
• Build a crisis team with clear roles before you ever need it
• Write a communications plan with holding statements, a spokesperson, and a stakeholder order
• Tell a reputational crisis apart from a physical emergency and respond to each
• Keep the mission running with a business continuity plan, then learn from it with an after-action review

Course outline

1. 1

   What a crisis is — and the lifecycle that tames it

   6 min

2. 2

   Prepare: risk assessment & the crisis plan

   6 min

3. 3

   The crisis team & roles

   5 min

4. 4

   The communications plan: holding statements & stakeholders

   6 min

5. 5

   Two kinds of crisis: physical emergency vs. reputation

   5 min

6. 6

   Business continuity: keep the mission running

   5 min

7. 7

   Recover & learn: the after-action review

   5 min

Sources & further reading

• Nonprofit Risk Management Center — Crisis Management Essentials
• Ready.gov (FEMA / DHS) — Business Continuity Planning
• Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) — 5 Steps for Navigating the First Hour of a Crisis
• FEMA (Emergency Management Institute) — IS-0552: Purpose of After-Action Reviews
• PwC — Global Crisis and Resilience Survey 2023