The pandemic has blown through our communities like a hurricane, canceling plans, changing priorities, leaving families grief-stricken, frustrated, and angry. As the pandemic anniversary approaches, we see encouraging signs of resilience and recovery, and some common themes in nonprofits’ approaches to tackling challenges.

Young professionals have much to offer in the way of fresh perspectives, growing professional networks and skill sets that may include social media and an understanding digital technology that fill in gaps in your organization.

First Steps: Becoming a Tech-Savvy Nonprofit

With all of the challenges presented by COVID-19, staff capacity and funding are two of the biggest areas of concern for nonprofits right now. Here are some key tips for being able to think through adopting new technology and not overwhelming yourself in the process:

• Start small and align any new systems with your priorities. If you’re like most organizations, your formal plans for 2020 probably flew out of the window and you may feel like you’re reacting and planning week to week. Even so, you probably have some key goals at this point: engage current donors for year-end giving, recruiting volunteers, or planning a successful virtual event and programs. To keep things simple, make sure you
  

With many people working from home, juggling virtual learning for their kids, and dealing with other commitments, hopping on yet another Zoom call can seem overwhelming at the end of the day. Remote engagement and technology are definitely necessary, but you should be mindful and strategic about how you use them to make sure your outreach is effective.

Virtual events have become a necessity for nonprofits to consider during COVID-19 due to the need for social distancing and health concerns. If you are in the process of planning a virtual event, there are some key ways that technology can help with fundraising and engagement.

As nonprofits face the challenges of laying off employees and wanting to assure that they receive unemployment benefits to care for their families, it is important to understand how unemployment insurance works and how to minimize the cost to the organization. There also may be opportunities for employees returning part time to collect unemployment benefits.

The statistics on how people of color are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 are disturbing. What steps can we take to help address those challenges now and into the future?

Role of the Board
in Fundraising During a Crisis

Board members can make a huge difference by working in partnership with the Executive Director to make plans for the future and to reach out to donors now. This video above by Sandra Toussaint-Burgher, President & CEO of United Way of Greater Mercer County, outlines some key steps that board members should be taking now to support their organizations in fundraising during the COVID-19 crisis.

Fundraising for Nonprofits

Practical tips on where to focus your efforts on fundraising during tough times.

Best Practices in Hard Times

Board members may hesitate to fundraise. BoardSource provides some simple talking points to help.

Addressing Your Board’s Fundraising Fears

In this article, Blue Avocado gives clear guidance on

Given the current environment, collaborating or thinking about nonprofit mergers offers a way to address resource challenges. This video by Dennis Kilfeather from the NonProfitConnect board outlines a range of creative ways solve these problems.

Are you feeling overwhelmed by future possibilities? This video, by Allison Trimarco of Creative Capacity, outlines a practical, scenario planning exercise designed for nonprofit organizations facing challenges due to the COVID-19 crisis.