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This Month's topic: Disaster Planning
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Winner of the 2008 Terry McAdam
Award:
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| This
Month's Topic: Disaster Planning |
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Sites
of the Month
Each
month, this area provides with a number of my favorite and most helpful
sites regarding the topic of the month.
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Management Tip of the Month
Each issue, I start with a
discussion of my management perspective on the month's topic, and give
you a few hands-on ideas to consider.
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Recommended Publications
Here, I provide you with my
recommendations on the materials available that can help you
become more mission-capable in the area of Disaster Planning
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Technology
I provide you with some good
ideas for uses of tech to better your organization in the area of Disaster Planning.
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Marketing Tip
So much to say, so little space to
say it.....
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Next Issue
In November, we'll
turn to an area that is close to the stewardship center of every nonprofit : Staff Recruitment and Retention.
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Past Issues:
You can see the topics of past Mission-Based
Management Newsletters, and then view those that are of
interest to you, by scrolling to the bottom of the newsletter, or by clicking here. |
Websites of the Month
Here are my recommendations for websites
of interest on this month's topic: Disaster Planning:
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Management Tip of the Month
Disaster Planning
Hope
for the best, plan for the worst. That's good stewardship. All you need
to do is read the paper, follow the news on the web, television or
radio to see the results of nature run amok on communities both here in
the US and abroad. Whether from earthquake, hurricane, tornado,
fire or flood, the cost is high, both to communities and the nonprofits
that serve them. I know that many nonprofit decision makers re-thought
their disaster plans (or developed them) after Hurricane Katrina hit
the Gulf Coast. And that's good.
Natural disasters aren't the only kind of unpredictable disaster that
can occur; just look at the financial crisis/near panic sweeping the
globe as this is published. I've had emails from nonprofits who often
(like many small businesses) borrow to make payroll, and their lines of
credit have been reduced or canceled in recent weeks? Is that a
disaster? It meets my definition: it's sudden, sweeping in its impact
and unpredictable in its timing......thus, I think the financial mess
qualifies.
Does your nonprofit have a disaster plan? I hope so. If you do, is it
up-to-date? If you don't have one, why not? There are many tools
available to help you, including some templates listed above. I know
that planning is not the most fun part of your job, but it is part of the job.
Remember--the point of all disaster planning is to continue providing
mission, or re-start that provision as quickly as possible. Your
priorities should always be the safety of the people you serve and your
staff and their families. After that, getting the mission up and
running should be the focus of your efforts, and thus facilitating that
should be the focus of your plan.
I want to use this space to talk not about the things you should do in
your plan (the tools will help you with that) but the kind of events
you should consider in making your plan. Some of these probably aren't
on your watch list, but should be. Here's my list:
Long Term Loss of Power.
Just ask the nonprofits in the Houston/Galveston area who went without
power for three or more weeks after Hurricane Ike hit last month. How
did that affect their ability to provide service? Your power loss does
not have to be measured in weeks. It only takes hours to spoil food, or
overheat without air conditioning; in just minutes you can lose your
computers and their memory. We are so tied up in the electric grid that
even a short power off situation can be critical. With predictions of
rolling brownouts and blackouts in urban areas rife, what's your plan?
Flood--from above or below.
While your insurance (hopefully) will make you whole if your roof leaks
or the proverbial creek rises, it won't replace your data, or your key
historical or legal documents. Use a safe deposit box for your key
documents. Get your electronic data offside, all the time. Use one of
the many low cost data backup plans that constantly back your
information up to someplace else. I use Carbonite
for my computers, (and love it) but there are many players in this
field. Lots of businesses and nonprofits on the Gulf Coast backed up
their data on disk, or a second server and felt secure. When their
entire building was destroyed, that security went with it.
Fire. Fire
doesn't have to consume a building to ruin it. The smoke and
water damage can make a building uninhabitable for weeks or months.
Again, getting key documents and data off site is crucial.
Snow, Sleet, Ice: Here
the issue can be the difficulty of getting to your work site, as well
as power loss. Carefully consider the pressure employees may feel to
get to work in dangerous conditions. If you can, have a backup plan to
allow certain staff to work from home in very bad weather. It's good
for your staff, and it's a good move for the community at large: keep
more people off the roads until things are safe.
Sudden loss of income: I've
lost track of how many nonprofits have had to suspend operations when
their big government funder decides to delay payment for a political
reason: the legislature can't pass a budget. So often they have no
backup. Today's headlines focus us on the same thing. Nonprofits across
the US are hurting from the sudden loss of big donations from banks and
investors. Here, the solution is three fold: Have a line of credit (if
you don't, it may take a while in the current environment until someone
will give you one), have a cutback plan and, of course, have some
savings.
Plan for the worst. Now. And then, hope for the best. But keep a weather eye on the sky, and on the stock market!
If
you found this hint helpful, there are lots more management, marketing,
and technology ideas for you in the "Ideas" section at www.missionbased.com.
Check them out--they're free.
And,
remember to take a look at the Mission-Based
Management Blog.
Back to
Top
Print Resources
My
recommendations for texts and other
readings on Disaster Planning:
Disaster Recovery Planning for Nonprofits, by Micheal K. Robinson
Prepare for the Worst, Plan for the Best, by Donna R. Childs
Back to
Top
Technology Tip
Disaster Planning...and
Technology!
Technology is, of course, particularly susceptible to disasters...all
you need to do is lose power. Fire, flood, ice, none of those are great
for computers, servers, cell phones and the like, of course which means
that the first thing you have to do is protect your data. As I
mentioned above---get it off site all the time. Do NOT just make a
backup and put it on the shelf. I use a service called Carbonite
for my computers and love it, but there are lots of players in this
space who serve organizations of all sizes. Check them out.
And, make sure you read the Disaster Planning and Recovery Toolkit from TechSoup. It's right on target.
Finally, in your organization-wide disaster planning remember to use
your tech to stay in touch with staff, board, volunteers, funders, and
the people you serve. Have a communications plan (See the Marketing Tip
below) that uses both high tech and low tech methods of keeping in
touch.
If
you found this hint helpful, there are lots more management, marketing,
and technology ideas for you in the "Ideas" section at www.missionbased.com.
Check them out--they're free
Back to
Top
Training Schedule for Peter Brinckerhoff
Below
you'll see the date, location, and
topics of public
training I'm
currently scheduled to do in the next few months. For more information
on a particular speaking engagement, get in touch with the contact
person listed in the right hand column, or email me.
For
more information on my availability
throughout the next 12-18 months, available topics, sample agendas, and
fees go to www.missionbased.com/training.htm
Marketing Tip
Disaster Planning and
Marketing
In a disaster, communications is everything. If
your staff don't know the situation, they won't know whether or not to
come in. Your funders? They need to know the state of your services and
if those services are suspended, how and when they'll be back on line.
Of course the most important people-the people you serve-also need to
know as well.
In a disaster situation, communications needs will depend on the scope
of the disaster. A note on your website is great, but if power is down
all over town, not many people can check your site. A message on your
answering machine has the same limitations--no power, or no phone
service, no message will get out.
In planning for this, think about a broad approach. Your website does
need updating, right away, both for staff and the people you serve. How
can you get that done without power? Does your phone provider offer
voice mail without having to have an answering system on your site? If so, that circumvents the power issue again.
Generate lists of staff, volunteers,
boards and others that need to be contacted. Also, remember to include
lists of media--tell the local papers, radio, television your status,
and get back to them when it changes. And, as noted in the Management
Tip above--get this information off site. It's a critical document.
Finally, you many need to think low-tech. A big sign that says
"OPEN!" outside your office goes a long way to assuring the staff,
volunteers, and the people you serve.
Remember, marketing is about meeting wants. What people want after a
disaster is information. So plan to get it to them, regardless of what
has happened.
If
you found this hint helpful, there are
lots more management, marketing, and technology ideas for you in the
"Ideas" section at www.missionbased.com.
Check them out--they're free.
Back to
Top
Future Topics for
The
Mission-Based Management Newsletter....
| November |
Staff
Recruitment and Retention |
| December |
Measuring
Mission |
| Jan-2009 |
Organizational
Transparency Revisited |
| February |
Different
Generational Cultures |
| March |
Organizational Visibility and Reputation |
| Send me your topic
suggestions at: peter@missionbased.com |
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You
asked, so here they are:
Past Single-Topic Issues of the Mission-Based Management Newsletter...
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Copyright
2008, Corporate Alternatives, inc.
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