A Nonprofit's Reputation: Controlling Factors That Can Destroy It

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Your Organization’s Reputation: Improving It, Protecting It, and Controlling Factors Than Can Destroy It

Transcript of A Nonprofit's Reputation: Controlling Factors That Can Destroy It

Page 1: A Nonprofit's Reputation: Controlling Factors That Can Destroy It

Your Organization’s Reputation:Improving It, Protecting It, and Controlling Factors Than Can Destroy It

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“Reputation damage, the top-ranked risk in this year’s survey”

Global Risk Management Survey 2015

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Crisis breaks

News media picks it up

Story goes viral

Updates to story

How hot can it get?

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“We treat others as we would like to be treated ourselves. We do not tolerate abusive or disrespectful treatment. Ruthlessness, callousness and arrogance don’t belong here.”

Who said this?

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Preparing for a crisis

Creating a unified front

Crafting crisis communication tactics

Avoiding common pitfalls during a crisis

Evaluating how well the plan worked after use

What we’ll cover today

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Internal preparation

Communications team

Crisis assessment

Predicting “holding statements”

Defined communication channels

Preparing for a crisis

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Crisis communication policy as part of staff training

Documents that cover:◦ Purpose of crisis communication

plan◦ Policy◦ Checklists◦ Emergency phone/email/text

tree

◦ Assessment ◦ Notification flowchart◦ Team members◦ Pre-public planning ◦ Going public

What’s the plan?

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What are some common crises?

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Who

What

Where

When

Internal preparation starts with crisis assessment

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Audience IssuesHealth & Safety

Trust Recovery Plan

Unknowns

Public

Victims

Staff & Volunteers

Media

Message Map/Crisis Matrix

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Executive director

Communications director

Board

Staff and volunteers

Creating a unified front

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Fast

Accurate

Trustworthy

Empathetic

Respectful

You can’t get around without…

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Morale

Gaps get filled with wrong/bad information

Talking points belong to everyone

Decide on “inside” exclusives

Keep internal and external messages close

Ideal first channel:Staff and Volunteers

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Clear and short answers

Stay on offensive

Respect “pushy” reporters

Practice

Expect the unexpected

Media spokespersons are trained, not born

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Acknowledge: “We understand that…”

Bridging: “What’s most important is that…”

Facts are facts: “We’ve served the community for 50 years and will continue to serve through…”

Move forward: “While the investigation continues, we’re encouraging everyone to…”

And how to do it

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Crisis communication tactics

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“The police are still investigating the accident, and we will share new updates as we have them available.”

“This is what we have confirmed ______. More details may emerge as the investigation continues.”

“Our social service agency is committed to the safety of our clients and staff, and we will cooperate with all authorities during the investigation.”

“Our hearts and minds are with those who have suffered a terrible loss. We will continue to provide more details as the investigation continues.”

“We will supply additional information when it is available and post it on our website and our social media channels.”

Holding statements

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Know nothing, say nothing

Play the Lone Ranger

Hate the messengers

Live in a vacuum

Forget the feelings

No need to practice

Avoiding common pitfalls

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Contact lists (e.g. crisis team, media lists)

Access to social media channels

Non-crisis information

Professional service providers

Tomorrow will be TOO LATE!

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Time to hit the “reset” button?

Appreciation and gratitude contact lists

Did systems work in “real time?”

Media analysis: coverage and corrections

Modifications to communication files

Evaluate how well plan worked

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Sample tools

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Online resources with crisis communication plans

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Crisis communications = insurance

Employment/volunteer agreements

Train key crisis communications team

Test during regular hours and off-hours

Best Practices

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Is it too late when you face a pile of ashes?

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Confirm that you have a plan

Review resources listed

Learn from others

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Presenter

Tom CiesielkaTC Public Relations312-422-1333www.tcpr.net

Questions