No one is unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This global health crisis is unprecedented. One of the biggest challenges for many of us is the uncertainty around when this will end.
Right now in the nonprofit world, we await rescheduling events, redesigning programs, and reconnecting with partners and audiences. During this extended exercise in patience, some organizations may benefit from proactively exploring and documenting the impact of COVID. Below are a series of questions that nonprofits may want to consider and answer (perhaps even in small, virtual workgroups) during these uncertain times. Working ahead now will likely be advantageous when preparing funding applications in the future.
- Create a brief, daily summary, starting from March 1, 2020. Describe the highest priority tasks and results in three sentences or less for each day.
- Describe organizational changes in the following areas:
- Daily operations
- Programming
- Personnel
- Fundraising/development
- Finances
- Identify your primary audience(s) (no more than 5) and explore how they’ve been affected by the shifts/pivots/discontinuances that have occurred at your organization. Organize this impact into categories – 1.) actual and concrete 2.) actual and pending or likely and 3.) predicted/potential.
- If COVID hadn’t occurred, what work would your organization have accomplished in March, April, and beyond? Write an activity report. Be objective.
- Challenges often lead to innovation. Describe any innovative, creative, and/or new approaches to operations, programming, or other work areas. How did it come to be? What are the results?
- What is your organization’s greatest strength? How did COVID impact that specific strength?
- How would you use funding to re-stabilize your organization? Be specific. Specifically consider how you would craft a budget narrative.
- How you further the mission of your organization has likely changed since COVID-19. Describe the process for any recent changes. Consider everything from early discussions to implementation.
- Jot down any notes or ideas that naturally emerge during this exercise. This may help when crafting future narratives.
