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Crisis communication planning and communication

Crisis

nonprofit organizations and nonprofits

Brittany Haupt
Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness,
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA, and 163
Lauren Azevedo Received 17 June 2020
Penn State Harrisburg, Middletown, Pennsylvania, USA Revised 3 November 2020
1 December 2020
Accepted 1 December 2020
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the evolution of crisis communication and management
along with its inclusion into the field and practice of emergency management. This paper also discusses the
inclusion of nonprofit organizations and the need for these organizations to engage in crisis communication
planning and strategy creation to address the diverse and numerous crises that nonprofits are at risk of
experiencing.
Design/methodology/approach – This paper utilizes a systematic literature review of crisis communication
planning tools and resources focused on nonprofit organizations to derive best practices and policy needs.
Findings – The resources analyzed provide foundational insight for nonprofit organizations to proactively
develop plans and strategies during noncrisis periods to support their organization when a crisis occurs.
Research limitations/implications – Limitations of this paper include limited academic research and
practical resources related to nonprofit organizations and crisis communication planning. As such, several
potential avenues for empirical research are discussed.
Practical implications – This paper provides considerations for nonprofit organizations engaging in crisis
communication planning and aspects leaders need to partake in to reduce or eliminate the risk of facing an
operational or reputational crisis.
Social implications – This paper highlights the critical need to generate a crisis communication plan due to
the diverse crises nonprofit organizations face and their connection to the emergency management structure.
Understanding the crisis and utilizing a crisis communication plan allows nonprofit organizations a way to
strategically mitigate the impact of a crisis while also providing essential services to their respective
communities and maintain their overall stability.
Originality/value – This paper is unique in its analysis of crisis communication planning resources and
creation of a planning framework to assist nonprofit organizations in their planning efforts.
Keywords Crisis communication, Crisis communication planning and strategies, Nonprofit organizations
Paper type Research paper

Crisis communication and nonprofit organizations

As emergency management continues to evolve, nonprofit organizations have become a
quintessential presence in disaster response and recovery efforts for local communities.
Although nonprofit organizations have long been a part of disaster response and recovery
activities, their formalization into emergency management practice is relatively new. This
formalization within the USA is seen in the integration into the Federal Emergency
Management Agency’s (FEMA) system. FEMA is an agency created in the USA to support
the citizens and first responders to promote that as a nation we work together to build, sustain
and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from and
mitigate all hazards. In recent years, unprecedented crises, such as the novel coronavirus
pandemic, has caused a significant increase of contributions from smaller, service-oriented
nonprofits as well as foundations and other philanthropic agencies to respond to community Disaster Prevention and
Management: An International
need and work with local, state and even federal agencies to deliver services to those who are Journal
facing significant health and economic hardships. Vol. 30 No. 2, 2021
pp. 163-178
More specifically, we see the formalization of nonprofit agencies being active in © Emerald Publishing Limited
0965-3562
preparation, protection, mitigation, response and recovery activities within FEMA’s (2011) DOI 10.1108/DPM-06-2020-0197
DPM whole community perspective and expanded the significance of crisis-related activities along
30,2 with the National Planning Frameworks connection to response and recovery agencies.
Broadening responsibility from a government-centric to a community engagement
perspective, FEMA (2011) promoted a deeper understanding of community complexity,
recognition of capabilities and needs, intentional relationships with leaders, support of critical
partnerships, empowerment of local action, and leverage of infrastructure, networks and
assets. As stated by FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate (2015):
164
We need to move away from the mindset that the Federal and State governments are always in the
lead, and build upon the strengths of our local communities and, more importantly, our citizens. We
must treat individuals and communities as key assets rather than liabilities.
However, issues arose concerning: anticipation of community needs; adaptation of
communication for crisis type; information release before, during and after a crisis; lack of
initiative to communicate; inadequate or incompatible communication technology; variations
in values and norms; high levels of stress and pressure on individuals and teams; rapid event
shifts and changing information; tension with media and the public; poor information-
gathering capacities; inability to convey accurate information and its meaning and cognition
and collaboration (Benson, 1988; Bharosa et al., 2010; Chandler, 2010; Comfort, 2007; Coombs,
2014; Walker, 2012). The result is crisis communication planning is more critical than ever.
Every communication situation during a crisis must be approached with consideration of many
dynamics. Therefore, communicated messages are complex and ambiguous at the same time.
Successful public communication seeks to balance the needs and expectations of all of these diverse
audiences and speak to each of them while not miscommunicating to the remainder (Chandler, 2010,
p. 58).

Evolution of crisis communication

The field of crisis communication began in the 1980s with a tampering incident impacting the
Johnson and Johnson corporation due to poison being injected into its Extra-Strength Tylenol
product that led to the death of seven individuals along with copycat attacks leading to the
death of several more individuals (Coombs, 2014; Haberman, 2018). Due to this notorious
incident, interest grew for corporate organizations as society and businesses began to realize
how negative consequences of improper management could have a resounding impact on
their bottom line and their ability to provide services to their customers. Crisis
communication and its managerial counterpart formalized into a field where individuals
sought to mitigate or diminish the negative impact of a crisis and protect stakeholders.
Crisis management incorporates a set of factors to combat crises and mitigate the damage
inflicted through phases of before, during and after a crisis (Comfort, 2007; Coombs, 2014).
Crisis Communication is defined as “the ongoing process of creating shared meaning among
and between groups, communities, individuals, and agencies, within the ecological context of
a crisis, for the purpose of preparing for and reducing, limiting and responding to threats and
harm” (Sellnow and Seeger, 2013, p. 13). Although the catalyst for crisis management
occurred with the Tylenol product poisoning, the research did not amp up until the
Challenger explosion of 1986 (Coombs, 2014). Researchers and interested parties focused on
understanding the decision-making process regarding crises along with analyzing the
rhetoric surrounding these incidents. It created the idea of apologia which became a dominant
theory with researchers focusing on what managers said and did to address crises and their
lack of acknowledgment for impacted stakeholders (Coombs, 2014; Dionisopoulos and
Vibbert, 1988).
The main hub for crisis communication research soon found itself planted in the field of
public relations where publications and case studies focused on corporate apologia, image
restoration theory and threats to reputations (Benoit, 1995; Coombs, 2014; Hearit, 1994; Ice, Crisis
1991). Focusing on the development of strategies, researchers began examining the evidence communication
of crisis communication into emergency management practice. Crisis communication views a
crisis as an incident where “a community of people- an organization, a town, or a nation-
and nonprofits
perceives an urgent threat to core values or life-sustaining functions, which must be dealt
with under conditions of uncertainty” (Boin and McConnell, 2007, p. 42). The term crisis has
been applied to a diverse range of situations from natural hazards and environmental threats
to infrastructural dramas, financial meltdowns or organizational decline. When crisis 165
communication is utilized through emergency management practice, we see the act of seeking
to answer questions related to the immediate situation, understanding the unexpected event
and finding opportunities within the chaos to learn and develop (Birkland, 2009; Boin and
McConnell, 2007; Rosenthal et al., 2001).

General crisis communication strategies

In terms of general crisis communication strategies, a three-stage approach has been
promoted occurring before, during and after the crisis. Within the precrisis, or before, stage, it
is critical for responsible officials to focus on planning and preparation versus waiting for a
crisis to occur (Coombs, 2014). This provides time to reflect and integrate a crisis
communication plan into the organization’s mission, vision, policies and procedures. The
crisis response, or during, stage focuses more on the implementation of policies and
procedures and differentiating how an official will react to the crisis and adapt
communication strategies. The post-crisis, or after, stage concerns follow-up with
stakeholders and returning to a sense of calm before preparing for the next event
(Coombs, 2014).
Research has discussed the impact of communication before, during and after a crisis with
an emphasis on planning, information collection, organization and dissemination (Chandler,
€
2010; Kapucu et al., 2013; Kapucu and Ozerdem, 2011; Lindell and Perry, 2007; McEntire,
2018; Sylves, 2014; Waugh and Streib, 2006) as well as strategies to aid in generating timely
and comprehensible messages that meet the diverse needs of its audiences (Reynolds and
Seeger, 2005; Ulmer et al., 2017; Walker, 2012). The general recommendations and
considerations revolve around (1) how to transfer the message; (2) when to send the
message; (3) will the recipient see, read or hear the message; (4) is the message
comprehensible; and (5) what will be the response. The recommendations find themselves
supported in emergency management focused incident command resources, such as the
National Incident Management System (NIMS), where nonprofit organizations are considered
and essential partner for preparation, mitigation, response and recovery operations.
The next section of the paper will focus on nonprofit organizations and the crises they face
as being a part of an emergency management structure along with organizational crises
they face.

Nonprofit organizations and crises

When nonprofit organizations assist in disaster response and recovery activities, they are
called upon to fulfill a variety of community needs, such as sheltering, food distribution, relief
funding, family reunification services and much more (Kapucu et al., 2011). The participation
of nonprofit organizations in federal-level response and recovery activities since the early
twentieth led to their inclusion in several facets like NIMS, the Whole Community Approach,
National Response Plan and National Response Framework. More specifically, the National
Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters (NVOAD, 2020) was created as a venue for
member organizations to coordinate resources and provide a logistics platform due to
duplication of efforts in response and recovery activities to the 1969 impact of Hurricane
DPM Camille along the Gulf Coast. Within their creation, they generated a guiding philosophy of
30,2 communication, coordination, collaboration and cooperation. NVOAD (2020) recognized that
all sectors must collaborate to “foster more resilient, self-reliant communities nationwide”
(para. 6) and work to generate and support partnerships among local, state and federal
emergency management agencies along with for-profits, foundations and educational and
research institutions.
The state level parallels the frameworks and plans generated for the federal level by their
166 inclusion of nonprofit organizations in disaster response and recovery activities. This
inclusion is explicitly stated in state response plans where nonprofit organizations are
included in the designation of roles and responsibilities for emergency support functions.
Although the federal and state level provides guidance and support, crisis response begins at
the local level and it is up to the local leaders to enact preparation, mitigation, response and
recovery activities to the crises facing local communities, as well as to adapt plans to the crisis
being faced. For instance, response and recovery activities for an earthquake will contrast
response to a chemical spill, biological agent or terrorist event.

Nonprofit organizations and crises

Due to nonprofit organizations’ unique intersection of providing public services and also
being a part of emergency management practices, they not only face hazards and disasters
the created the diverse crises communities can face (i.e. natural hazard, civil/conflict
and technological), but they also face organizational crises that impact their operation and
reputation (Coombs, 2014; Coombs and Holladay, 2002, 2014; McEntire, 2018; Paton and
Johnston, 2001; Jordan et al., 2016). In terms of operational threats, these types of crises
include some threat to public safety or the nonprofit’s stakeholder welfare (Coombs, 2014,
2015; Jordan et al., 2016). Reputational threats incorporate crises that are less likely to be
viewed as a public safety or stakeholder welfare concern. Nonprofits are dependent upon
their communities and donors for sustainability along with being held to higher expectations
than their for-profit counterparts (Sisco, 2010).
Nonprofits are expected to maintain the public’s trust while also administrating services
that local governments are unable to provide. Nonprofits are also in a unique situation in that
they do not coerce participation, they operate with fewer resources to achieve public goals
and do not distribute any profits to stockholders, and they can exist without having clearly
defined lines of accountability or ownership (Lee, 2004; Sisco, 2010). Public trust can impact a
nonprofit’s fundraising, programming success, advocacy efforts and human resources. In
fact, public trust is critical to nonprofit success and any issue with their ability to operate or
their reputation can cause them to struggle for survival. Nonprofits often lack the
accountability structures and mechanisms that are held in place in other sector agencies;
thus, when an issue is realized, public trust is even more negatively impacted.

Public trust in the Red Cross response to Haiti earthquake

The importance of public trust for nonprofits can certainly be seen in several cases of trust
loss in nonprofit organizations, such as the Red Cross response to the Haiti earthquake. The
earthquake struck Haiti and Dominican Republic in 2010, leading to thousands dead and
hundreds of thousands of displaced individuals. The humanitarian response to the
earthquake was immediate, and innovative techniques were used to quickly raise funds
(the Red Cross’s donate by text campaign, donating $10 from each individual who texted
“Haiti” to 90,999). This effort raised around half a billion dollars by Red Cross (Elliott et al.,
2015), who vowed to help the country rebuild roads, schools, homes, assist in water and
sanitation systems and build a healthcare clinic. Years after the disaster, questions were
raised by some media outlets and donors of where the money went. National Public Radio
(NPR), a privately and publicly funded nonprofit media organization, and ProPublica, an Crisis
investigative journalism nonprofit organization, report that their search of the funds yielded communication
poorly managed projects and questionable spending (Sullivan, 2015). While the Red Cross
claims homes were built for 130,000 individuals, in reality six homes were built. Later
and nonprofits
investigation found that a quarter of the money donated was spent on its own internal
expenses, the organization stalled on releasing important and complete information to
various stakeholders, including the Government Accountability Office, regarding the relief
efforts and the organization underfunded and under-resourced internal investigations 167
(Sullivan et al., 2016). The Red Cross did issue a response, yet public trust was lost due to the
reports and certainly impacted how donor’s think about donating to the organization moving
from this disaster.

Nonprofit organizations and communication in times of crisis

The key aspect for nonprofit organizations is communication. Limited research has studied
crisis communication planning and its impact on the nonprofit sector and specific
organizations, yet it is evident that nonprofit organizations need to engage in crisis
communication planning to mitigate the impact of crises they will face (Coombs, 2014; Sisco,
2012, 2014; Jordan et al., 2016). Crises can lead to loss of donors, loss of political support and
inability to meet the needs of their communities leaving their constituents to either stop
receiving those services or search for another nonprofit to obtain the services (Coombs and
Holladay, 2002, 2014). Moreover, their constituents are expecting communication that is
considered open, honest, accurate, tailored, two-way and knowledgeable (Coombs, 2014;
Coombs and Holladay, 2002, 2014). The evolution in technology and social media, including
access to Internet, digital video equipment and smart devices and increasing use in social
media platforms has reshaped the way that nonprofits are communicating within their
networks (Shemberger, 2017). These new platforms and technology are providing nonprofits
ways to advance their two-way channels and connect users with information and resources.
The overall goal of communication is to minimize reputational damage from crises and be
able to continue being a positive collaborator in emergency-related activities, along with
being able to sustain their organizational missions and meet the needs of their communities
(Benoit, 1995; Coombs and Holladay, 2014). Nonprofit organizations should not only generate
a crisis communication plan but create adaptations to this plan depending on the crisis being
faced along with setting aside time to practice the plans with members of the organizational
hierarchy and community partners. The next section of this paper will focus on crisis
communication strategies, crisis communication plans and purported best practices for crisis
communication in relation to nonprofit organizations.

Crisis communication strategies and planning for nonprofit organizations

Nonprofit organizations spend ample time strategically planning their mission, vision, values
and the goals they want to achieve within the communities they serve. One crisis badly
managed can derail all of their strategic plans and lead to dire consequences. Therefore, it is
beneficial to not only strategically plan the growth of the organization but what to do when
the organization is facing a crisis. Moreover, what will the organization do for the diverse
types of crises that they are at risk of facing?
Crisis communication and management are an avenue for nonprofits to pursue these
planning endeavors. The issue, however, is nonprofit leaders may not have previously
learned how to plan their crisis communication strategies and integrate these strategies into
their overarching crisis management approach. The lack of knowledge and practice can
negatively impact their resilience capacity when faced with diverse crises from natural
DPM hazards to reputational or operational threats. An example of a crisis that damaged the
30,2 reputational and organizational capacity of a nonprofit is the case of United Way of America
(UWA) where slanderous articles of UWA unveiling poor monetary accountability, nepotism
and mismanagement leading to the cancellation of campaign pledges, major donations and
the president resigning, being indicted, and charged guilty for all allegations (Jordan
et al., 2016).
168
Where to begin?
The question can then be: Where to begin? To answer this question, the researchers
conducted a systematic search for crisis communication planning resources targeted toward
nonprofit organizations. The key search terms utilized included “crisis communication,”
“planning,” “nonprofit organization(s),” and “strategies.” The results needed to have a direct
connection between crisis communication “planning” or “strategies” along with an explicit
focus on the nonprofit arena. In addition, the sources needed to be in English. Emergency
management as a field has become increasingly professionalized and internationalized,
though application from the USA to other countries may be hindered due to insufficient
comparative methodologies (McEntire and Mathis, 2007). While the focus here is on the USA,
we acknowledge the importance of comparison in approach in different geographies to
contribute to emergency management literature, particularly because of the growing NGO
sector internationally.
In terms of results, there were a limited number of peer-reviewed journal publications and
they mostly focused on case study analysis of nonprofit organizations and their use or non-
use of crisis communication strategies or the application of crisis communication theory.
A generalized search using web-based search engines produced results such as resource
guides or toolkits, opinion pieces, blog posts and news articles; however, only seven resources
were focused on crisis communication planning for nonprofit organizations, developing
plans, specific strategies to utilize and original insights versus citations to these more
formalized resources or simply stating the importance of crisis communication plans and the
need to have one. The location of these sources all fell within the USA; this may be due to the
language necessity of English.
Although not all resources encompassed the key terms, there was an overall encouraging
message of the critical need for crisis communication planning and the emphasis to plan
during noncrisis periods, as this is an essential element to planning. Planning during
noncrisis time periods allows for the time needed to brainstorm strategies, generate a crisis
management organizational hierarchy, determine any resource or logistical needs, practice
the plan with the organization’s members as well as relevant community partners, collaborate
with local emergency managers to check with the community’s comprehensive emergency
management plan and reduce duplication of efforts and identify any missing aspects and to
check with the nonprofit’s legal team to determine any potential liabilities. All of these aspects
assist with building the resilience capacity of the organization and have the best chance to
reduce or eliminate any negative impact to the organization (Paton and Johnston, 2001).
Analyzing select crisis communication planning resources for nonprofit organizations,
Table 1 provides a brief summary of the strategies included in the resources.

Results
Colorado nonprofit association
Analyzing the selected resources, each document provides unique insights for the nonprofit
sector. The Colorado Nonprofit Association (CNA, 2014) provides a template for nonprofit
organizations to support their own development of a crisis communication plan and adapting
Source Date Strategies for crisis communication planning
Crisis
communication
Colorado Nonprofit Association 2014 (1) Identify the purpose of the crisis communication plan and nonprofits
(CNA) (2) Identify who is to utilize the crisis communication plan
(3) Generate policies based off of the plan and for implementation
(4) Create a checklist that includes safety, notification, crisis
communication team, steps to take before going public, what to
do when going public and evaluation of the efforts 169
(5) Select persons to be part of the internal emergency phone tree
(6) Strategically create the crisis communications plan to have
internal pre-preparation, safety, notifications, a team,
situational assessment, decision-tree matrix, key messages,
staff notification, board and chair notification, media releases,
partner and key group notification, record keeping, media-
message evaluation, communications updates, loose- ends,
evaluations and post-crisis clean-up
Compassion Capital Fund n.d. (1) Identify a hierarchy for the communication process
(CCF) (2) Generate key statements for stakeholders and media
connections
(3) Utilize crisis communication to supplement a risk management
and response plan
Sean Norris from NonProfitPro 2015 (1) Tell it all, tell it early
Podcast (2) Have a plan
(3) Determine what you would do if you were to the response
before the crisis, during and after
Meg Shannon from Nonprofit 2015 (1) Issue vs. crisis- know the difference
MarCommunity (2) Create a worst-case scenario
(3) Build your team
(4) Have an escalation plan
(5) Practice makes perfect
(6) During the crisis: Don’t let it fester
(7) Gather the facts
(8) Craft a statement
(9) Address the crisis where it happened
(10) Take responsibility and forget about blame
Tom Ciesielka of TC Public 2015 (1) Utilize professional not-for-profit resources
Relations (2) Engage in online social media monitoring
(3) Utilize professional public relations tools and services
(4) Generate a public relations crisis planning worksheet
encompassing
• initial public relations objectives
• target audience
• target media contacts
• consequences
• top-tier audiences
• credibility and expertise
• monitoring
• staffing and
• inventory of public relations tools
(5) Educate yourselves with public relations texts and resources Table 1.
and maintain a list of these resources Crisis communication
resources for nonprofit
(continued ) organizations
DPM Source Date Strategies for crisis communication planning
30,2
Allyssa Lenhoff-Briggs 2018 (1) Identify your crisis communications team
(2) Anticipate possible problems and crisis
(3) Identify spokespeople
(4) Identify audiences
(5) Establish notification systems
170 (6) Create foundational statements
(7) Assess the crisis
(8) Create crisis-specific messaging
(9) Monitor systems
(10) Analyze after the crisis
New England Insurance n.d. (1) Generate action steps
Services (2) Gather information
(3) Contacting emergency services
(4) Determine ways to stabilize the situation
(5) Identify crisis headquarter locations
(6) Prepare a script
(7) Create a contact sheet
(8) Mobilize a crisis team
(9) Determine emergency and support sources
(10) Media management tips
(11) Identify post-incident follow-up
(12) Create a crisis response kit
(13) Organize files and prepare reports
(14) Have a Plan-B
Table 1. (15) Engage in self-care

it to their organization’s resources, structures and messages. The template begins by

highlighting the importance of defining the purpose of the crisis communication plan. CNA
(2014) states their purpose as: “To effectively manage communications through a formal,
clearly defined channel in order to mitigate crisis, or serious negative repercussions for the
Association or the sector, and maintain a reputation of leadership and transparency on vital
issues and breaking news” (p. 2).
Outlining a purpose provides an overarching direction and use of the crisis
communications plan. Once the purpose has been established then a statement of how to
use the plan can be developed. Understanding how to use the plan can assist with identifying
responsible parties and how to educate each category of staff as to their role and
responsibility. Another unique aspect of CNA’s (2014) crisis communication plan is the
policies concerning the plan and its implementation. Connecting to policies provides
organizational support and showcases intentionality. Similar to other resources, CNA’s (2014)
plan incorporates checklists and emphasis of actions to take prior to engaging with internal
and external stakeholders and also incorporates an emphasis on situational assessment.
Conducting a situation assessment allows the organization to gather facts, analyze the crises,
delegate responsibilities and determine what needs to be adapted to the unique environment
created by the crisis.
In addition, CNA (2014) incorporates sample media statements, key messages for the
organization and a matrix to assist with the decision-making process. The decision tree
begins with determining whether the issue affects a substantial portion of the nonprofit
sector, the organization and/or the community. Depending on the magnitude, the tree takes
the organization through specific considerations and relevant actions to take. For example, if
an issue affects a substantial part of the organizations then the question arises of whether the
organization has a clear position on the issue. If there is a clear position then the decision tree Crisis
will take the organization to more considerations of whether proactive action will lead to a communication
positive outcome, would it demonstrate leadership, does it relate to the overall goals of the
organization or whether is action necessary for positive impact to the reputation of the
and nonprofits
organization.

Compassion capital fund 171

The Compassion Capital Fund’s (n.d.), this resource guide focuses more on risk management
and views crisis communication planning as a supportive endeavor to mitigating any
negative impacts. It is important to note the difference between risk management and crisis
management. Risk management is focused more on threats to an organization’s capacity,
such as financial, legal, or management issues and methods to reduce harm. Crisis
communication integrates the aspect of risk, but focuses more on specific crisis types, what is
known and not known, the scope of impact, strategies for mitigation and views
communication as the avenue for being principally informative. Therefore, CCF’s guide
speaks to crisis communication plans as supplementing the risk management plan and being
the information hub for the response team and encompasses a communication hierarchy and
key statements for stakeholders and media sources.

NonProfitPro podcast
Norris (2015) from NonProfitPro podcast provides a key aspect of crisis communication
planning and strategy implementation is communicated internally and externally. A plan
cannot be implemented effectively if all of the organization’s staff is unaware of what to do or
how they will be informed. Within the plans, the strategies created need to address how to
create a messaging platform for internal stakeholders as well as external. Moreover, do not be
afraid of communicating with external stakeholders. Organizations are better able to mitigate
negative damage to their reputation and operation if they engage with external stakeholders
early on and provide a cohesive message (Norris, 2015).

Nonprofit marcommunity
Shannon (2015) from Nonprofit MarCommunity emphasizes the difference between an issue
versus a crisis. An issue is a negative situation the organization must process, but it does not
have a long-lasting impact on its operations or reputation. An issue can turn into a crisis if
there is a long-lasting impact to the organization’s operation or reputation. Examples include
the UWA financial management crisis, the American Red Cross’ problematic response during
Hurricane Sandy and Isaac and numerous local-level nonprofits who faced reputational
threats after financial mismanagement surfaced or inaccurate reporting of services rendered
(Norris, 2015; Sisco et al., 2010).
Another exercise promoted by Shannon (2015) is to generate a worst-case scenario. If this
exercise was conducted while going through every crisis the organization could face then
there is a chance to create strategies and have them ready before needed. Granted, this does
not mean the organization plans for every single crisis in the world but understanding what is
at risk of and preparing accordingly. Moreover, these exercises can also provide a space to
develop crisis communication plans, but go deeper and think of what the organization needs
to do should the crisis escalate further.

TC public relations
Ciesielka (2015) of TC Public Relations provides more of a resource packet that includes
professional not-for-profit resources such as data collection and analysis organizations,
DPM educational organizations providing access to articles, journals and university collected crisis
30,2 communication plans. Ciesielka (2015) also connects readers to social media monitoring
technology and public relations tools and services to improve the plans and strategies of
organizations. Ultimately, nonprofit organizations know what they know and what they do
not know. Taking time to acknowledge organizational strengths, weaknesses and how to
supplement then positively impacts plans and strategies developed. Moreover, Ciesielka
(2015) offers a public relations worksheet to have space for organizations to identify
172 objectives, their target audience, media contacts, consequences, top-tier audiences, credibility
and expertise, monitoring, staffing and inventory of public relations tools. This worksheet
can be a starting point for organizations that are unsure how to analyze crises and determine
how to break it down into actionable steps.

Lenhoff-Briggs
Lenhoff-Briggs (2018), this resource provides a ten-step process focused on crisis
management and the reality that a crisis can occur at any time and that the worst thing
that can occur is for a nonprofit to say nothing when chaos erupts. Moreover, nonprofit
organizations benefit from taking time to anticipate potential issues and crises that the
organization could face. Determining an organization’s risk can include threats to their
reputation, operation or the potential disasters they may face due to location, client base and
funding structure. The overarching push is to be proactive versus reactive in nature.
Lenhoff-Briggs (2018) also speaks to the designation of a spokesperson and to select this
individual very carefully. The spokesperson should be someone other than the chief
executive officer as president, as they need to be an individual who is comfortable speaking to
audiences, calm, diplomatic, quick-thinking, able to stay on message and knowledgeable
about handling messages through social media avenues. This individual must also be willing
to have extensive training as to the mission and vision of the organization and its reputational
and operational capacity. In addition, Lenhoff-Briggs (2018) and Norris (2015) emphasize the
need to assess the crisis and also analyze the after-crisis impact to the organization and the
strategies utilized.

New England insurance services

New England Insurance Services (NEIS, n.d.) provides insights into the information
gathering portion of crisis management when the organization is needing to answer the
who, what, when, where, why, how and what now. In addition, NEIS speaks to the
immediate aftermath of a crisis and the need to stabilize the situation and make sure
everyone is ready to engage with the public and the media along with implementing crisis
communication plans. It is an important moment of time to gather thoughts and resources
before moving forward. In addition to stabilizing the situation, there is a need to designate
a crisis headquarters.
Similar to an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) where emergency managers direct
all the emergency support functions and gather all essential personnel, the crisis
headquarters is the nonprofit’s EOC and place where the crisis is managed. Along with
establishing a headquarters, the nonprofit organization can create a crisis response kit
that includes essential items, such as: (1) notebooks; pencils; pens; computers; necessary
chargers; back-up generators; emergency services telephone numbers; list of staff and
volunteers; list of emergency contact numbers; list of support services and numbers; list
of media contacts; a copy of the crisis response plan; flashlights; weather radio; blankets;
first aid kits; bottled water; snacks and other necessities (NEIS, n.d.). The headquarters is
also a place to have any relevant files organized and have the ability to prepare reports for
distribution.
Resource integration Crisis
Integrating the feedback and insights from these resources, the researchers created a communication
generalized strategic planning process for crisis communication planning (see Figure 1) and
foresee the need for additional research to test the framework and create a comprehensive
and nonprofits
resource for nonprofit organizations utilizing the components created.

Crisis communication planning figure application 173

To preliminarily test the framework, the case of the Red Cross response to Haiti
earthquake was analyzed. As previously discussed, the earthquake struck Haiti and
Dominican Republic in 2010 with immediate humanitarian response utilizing innovative
techniques to quickly raise funds. This effort raised around half a billion dollars by the
Red Cross who vowed to help the country rebuild roads, schools, homes, assist in water
and sanitation systems and build a healthcare clinic. However, the results of the
fundraising effort were minimal and led to an investigative report showcasing poorly
managed funds and only six homes built. This contrasted the Red Cross’ claims that
homes were built for 130,000 individuals. The investigation also highlighted how a
quarter of the money donated was spent on internal expenses and the Red Cross stalled on
releasing important and complete information to various stakeholders, including the
government accountability office, regarding the relief efforts and the organization
underfunded and under-resourced internal investigations. The Red Cross did issue a
response, yet public trust was lost and has since impacted donor activity (Elliott et al.,
2015; Sullivan et al., 2016).
There are two crises here. The first is the Red Cross’ response to the earthquake and
generating funds to attempt to rebuild Haiti and not delivering on their initial
agreements. The response to this lack of delivery led to the second issue, which was a
significant loss of public trust. This leads to negative impacts to the Red Cross
organization itself. Analyzing this case against the crisis communication planning
figure, the pre-crisis period is difficult to ascertain without documents and insights
from the Red Cross. For the crisis period, we see the Red Cross successfully identified
the crises and the needs of the community. They initiated response efforts for
fundraising and utilized an innovative technique of texting for donations utilizing a
unique code. It led to raised funds of $148.5m within the first six months (Red Cross,
2020). However, issues quickly surfaced leading many media sources and donors to
question what was going on. What we did not see in their crisis communication
strategies is open, honest, accurate, tailored, two-way and knowledgeable messages.
This is evidenced through a spokesperson that was not knowledgeable in Haitian
culture and unable to speak Creole. In addition, there was limited interaction with the
Haitian government, a lack of transparency regarding fund distribution and lack of
delivery on promises to build homes and help Haiti with infrastructure.
During the post-crisis period, the Red Cross identified their consequential crisis of
loss of public trust and was forced to evaluate internal and external impacts. The impact
of not incorporating crisis communication strategies and identifying a culturally
competent spokesperson, pilot testing the text messaging donation method, having
transparent and timely communication efforts in multiple languages led loss of public
trust and the need for the organization to mitigate this impact by incorporating more
transparency and accountability within their internal structure. In addition, they had to
change their focus to image restoration and validating their public value. To do this, the
Red Cross published a two and ten-year update with a complete financial breakdown
and created a YouTube video series to provide visual documentation of their efforts
(Red Cross, 2020).
 30,2

174
DPM

Figure 1.

planning framework
Crisis communication
Non-Crisis Period
Selection of
Organizational Communication
Communication Designation of with Internal
Identify a Crisis and Risk Strategy Roles and Resources to Training and
Planning Team Identification and External Practice
Formulation Responsibilities Support
Stakeholders
Strategies

Crisis Period

Invest Maintain
Communicate
Identify impact Refer to Organizational Records of all
Identify the Select with Internal Note Initial
to applicable Resources for Communicatio
Crisis Spokesperson and External Impact
Organization Strategies Response n Strategies
Stakeholders
Efforts Utilized

Post-Crisis

Incorporate Results of
Evaluate Internal Evaluate External Incorporate Results of Assessment and
Collect After-Action Impact of Crisis Impact of Crisis Assessment and
Evaluation into
Reports Communication Communication Evalution into Crisis
Organizational Policies
Strategies Strategies Communication Plans
and Procedures
Conclusion Crisis
To support effective crisis communication, nonprofit organizations and their respective crisis communication
manager should operate in such a way that their crisis communication messages are
characterized as: open, honest, accurate, tailored, two-way and knowledgeable. Some
and nonprofits
additional identified best practices include: promoting effective communication regarding
process approaches and policy development; pre-event planning; partnerships with the
public; listening to the public’s concerns and understanding the audience; collaboration and
coordination with credible sources; meeting the needs of the media and remaining accessible; 175
communicating with empathy and concern; accepting uncertainty and ambiguity and
promoting self-efficacy (Reynolds and Seeger, 2005; Seeger, 2006).
The more attention that a [crisis manager] can give to providing information on hazards, risk, and
protective measures in non-crisis situations, the more likely it is that such information communicated
during an actual emergency will result in adaptive citizen actions (Perry and Nigg, 1985, p. 76).
Essentially, the more attention given to crisis communication strategies and adaptations for
local community needs then the more resilient a nonprofit organization and their community
can become.
For the development of crisis communication plans and strategies, the analyzed resources
provide foundational insight for nonprofit organizations to proactively develop plans and
strategies during noncrisis periods to support their organization when a crisis occurs.
Overall, research and practical guidelines suggest strategies for nonprofit crisis managers
and leaders to partake in to reduce or eliminate the risk of facing an operational or
reputational crisis. These initial strategies include, for example, if the organization is the first
to disclose a threat then this will be received better than if the media or another organization
shares the issue with the public. Nonprofit organizations also need to engage in crisis
communication planning with intentionality and establish a purpose along with
organizational policies to support their efforts. These organizations also need to
understand target audiences, know what will make community members continue their
volunteer or financial support, see crises as an opportunity for change and renewal and be
honest and apologize sincerely (Kinsky et al., 2014).
Future research includes development of a comprehensive crisis communication planning
resource for nonprofit organizations utilizing crisis communication strategies and theories
that acknowledge the unique crises nonprofits face within the emergency management
structure and as an organization. Due to nonprofit organizations increasing in their presence
during preparation, mitigation, response and recovery activities, more research is needed to
examine the effectiveness of crisis communication planning resources and the plans
themselves. Moreover, a specific focus is needed for those within the emergency management
structure. Additional research is also needed regarding nonprofit educational programs to
determine the inclusion of crisis communication planning along. Furthermore, instructional
materials, such as case studies, need to be developed to assist nonprofit management
students and current nonprofit organizations in their crisis communication planning efforts.
Lastly, more research can incorporate the development of an in-depth, comprehensive guide
for nonprofit organizations integrating crisis communication strategies and theories within
planning efforts from its inception to implementation and within noncrisis, crisis and post-
crisis time periods.

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Further reading
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of Communication Management, Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 388-404.
Schwarz, A. and Pforr, F. (2011), “The crisis communication preparedness of nonprofit organizations:
the case of German interest groups”, Public Relations Review, Vol. 37 No. 1, pp. 68-70.

Corresponding author
Brittany Haupt can be contacted at: hauptb@vcu.edu

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