No one wants to think about the potential of a crisis striking their nonprofit organization. With the goal of helping individuals or animals, a nonprofit exists to provide support for a specific cause. Unfortunately, things can happen that are beyond our control. For example, WOWT in Nebraska reported in April how an Omaha Public Schools teacher was arrested on accusations of stealing $76,000 while managing the accounts of a nonprofit school organization. While this was no fault of the organization, the nonprofit found itself in a crisis.
Another similar example took place in 2023 when the executive director of the New Heights Community Resource Center was federally indicted after allegedly stealing millions from a program intended to feed low-income children, according to KSDK in Missouri.
Crises don’t have to define your nonprofit organization. There are ways to attack the issue head-on and survive to fight another day. Partnering with a PR agency that specializes in nonprofit public relations, like Orange Orchard, is a great first step to ensure you are prepared in the event a crisis takes place.
There are several advantages of having a nonprofit PR agency at your disposal when things take a turn for the worse. Our experts will develop a crisis communications plan well before a crisis takes place. Within that plan, our experts provide information on several things such as:
- Messaging that can help you tell the truth while also re-establishing credibility and confidence with internal and external audiences.
- Preparing a statement that can be used to make an initial general response to the media when knowledge about the crisis first becomes known on a widespread basis.
- Identifying key audiences such as volunteers, donors, the media and government entities you may be associated with.
If you want to ensure your nonprofit is ready in the unfortunate event of a crisis, give our experts a call at (865) 977-1973 or contact us online.