Contingency Planning

Planning During COVID-19
Many nonprofits are struggling to make strategic decisions during this time of great uncertainty. In April of 2020, we put together this 14-minute step by step guide to using scenario planning to build short-term contingency plans that will support your long-term success.

Scenario planning goes beyond looking solely at financial challenges to help you determine how you can best advance your mission, serve your constituents, and remain essential to your community even as external conditions change.

Start by downloading this worksheet, which you can use with your planning group. The video will walk you through the best way to conduct a scenario planning session.

Scenario Planning Step by Step Worksheet

Thanks to my friends at NonProfitConnect for sharing this resource with our community. You can visit their site for additional videos about handling today’s challenges.

Need more resources about strategic planning or fundraising strategy?

You can contact me at allison@creativecapacity.net if you need additional help with your scenario planning. Good luck!

Other Resources for Managing During this Time

Arts and Culture folks — Be sure to follow the ongoing Intent to Visit data from IMPACTS Research, which is analyzing when cultural consumers will begin attending/visiting again.

NonProfitConnect has been producing weekly videos on topics related to the current crisis (and helped us to distribute this scenario planning webinar, thanks!). They have a library of resources on HR, risk management, financial management, board engagement, and more.

The National Council of Nonprofits is collecting resources on many topics, including government relief and funding packages.

The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation has a resource page with information about federal and NJ funding sources, along with tools for planning and managing through the crisis.