Why your nonprofit should stop making plans and start making systems

Like you, I am tired of living in unprecedented times. In addition to the daily onslaught on our civil rights, all of us, and our organizations, are in more precarious positions than before.

I’ve been consulting for over a decade now and I’ve made countless communications plans for clients, most of whom are small nonprofits with 2-20 staff members who fight for progressive causes. My goal is to leave my client with a plan they can execute, evaluate, and edit for the next year.

I can count on one hand the number of clients who have been able to renew their plan.

None of the reasons will surprise you: staff turnover, uncertain funding, changing political landscape (what up, immigrant rights clients?), board changes, and countless other reasons. These changes can often render a year-long plan limp.

A plan determines who does what when. It is often thought of months in advance, before the next unhinged executive order has been signed or a significant funding stream has shifted. A system, on the other hand, expects the unexpected and details a process for what to do when faced with a choice.

So, how does your organization create communications normalcy? Replace your plans with systems.

I’ll give you a few examples.

1. An interdepartmental communications team. These meetings are not a ten-minute agenda item of your staff meeting. This is a deliberate space to focus on how your organization is viewed and how you can shift that over time. It involves key players in your organization and builds solidarity and knowledge across the organization in what you do and how you do it. It is your first line of defense for any communications department. I recommend every two weeks, but you can do monthly.
2. A communications request system that people actually use. The constant flow of communications requests is tiring for even the best-staffed organizations. For those of us contending with many hats (and too few heads), streamlining a way for people to send you content is critical. No more unorganized emails or texts, scribbled post-it notes left while you were at lunch, or harried messenger pigeons attempting to keep up with your editorial calendar. Find a central system, train people on it, and use it. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
3. A step up/step back document. This critical system doesn’t start with what to say, but whether or not you should say anything at all. Typically, when breaking news hits, your organization is left flat-footed in response, uncertain how to proceed. This “Speak Out or Step Back” document by Forthright Advising pulls together your key considerations, giving you a step-by-step process for whether you should speak up or keep your mouth shut. By putting in some effort ahead of time, you can customize documents like this to align with your organization’s values (e.g. Who are the most important stakeholders who need to hear from us? Are there other organizations better positioned to speak? Whom does this news impact?)
4. A crisis communications workflow. This is a little different from the step up/step back document as it drills deeper into what type of response and how your organization internally processes the tasks. What is helpful for this document is it requires buy-in ahead of time from all the key players in this process. I like this template from Hubspot, but remember: you can simplify this to your specific organization. Do you have a board member who is a lawyer? Do you have a translator on deck to make your public statements accessible? List these resources and anything that your organization specifically will need.

This is not an exhaustive list of the communications systems you could implement. Maybe you need an event marketing checklist, digital storybank, or a donor thank you process. The key thing is thinking ahead! If you think you could benefit from customized systems, but don’t know where to start, drop me a line!

Stay safe out there, folks. Punch a nazi, if you can.