If you feel like your head is spinning trying to keep up with the latest updates regarding the COVID-19 crisis and the economy, you are not alone. Our economy is in a very different state from when you made your annual budget. It’s even in a very different state from when this pandemic first began. It’s likely you created a “Plan B” version of your budget when work from home sanctions were announced nationwide. It’s now time to create a “Plan C”. Your company’s Plan B likely involved taking a good look at your budget to determine where to cut costs. What things can you do without for the next 30-90 days to provide some relief? Most importantly, you created new ways to engage donors and re-work services to provide them in online spaces with webinars and online auctions to keep money flowing into the organization while we temporarily adjust to our new reality. Now it is time to assess how that has all played out. Here are some ways to help your organization plan for the rest of 2020 now that the country is slowly re-opening and your team has a better feel for how to run a contactless business.

Accept A New Normal

As you know this isn’t business as usual, but now more than ever it’s important to make sure your mission does not fall through the cracks. Art’s organizations were hit hard If you are one of the lucky ones who are still operating you should be planning for a new normal. The fact is, the country may be slowly re-opening but we will all be playing it safe for a while especially in NYC. Pull that budget out once again. Your budget written the previous fiscal year was PLAN A. The revision you made after the announcement of a pandemic was PLAN B. As we operate in this space of uncertainty while opening non-essential businesses and canceling stay at home orders, its time for PLAN C. By now you have made the necessary cuts from canceling subscriptions to the dreaded layoffs. Use some of that savings to shift funding to invest in doing business online seamlessly is something to strongly consider. There are plenty of free or low-cost options to host events, meetings, and engage with the community you serve. I suggest shifting funding because in order to gain more security, participants, and connection stability it will likely involve a paid-for option. Many individuals and organizations have garnered attention and donations by taking creative classes, musical performances, and major events into the online space with great success. Use the last 45 days as a blueprint for those fall events you have planned. Get creative with your team and explore how to host and cater to attendees in the physical and online spaces simultaneously. We may not have a clue what the latter part of 2020 looks like, but it is a great idea to adjust all planned events, looking at them through the lens of COVID-19.

Donor Engagement

You may not know what the remainder of 2020 holds, but please do not let the fear of the unknown tarnish relationships with donors. Let your donors know what’s going on in the organization. Your donors care about your mission, but they also care about the people behind the mission. Don’t forget to keep them in the loop, especially in regard to major programming changes. Instill a sense of confidence in regular and potential donors. How do you instill confidence in uncertain times??? Keep talking to your donors. Acknowledge that they are going through a hard time too. Not every communication with donors should be a direct ask anyway, and now is the perfect time to put some of those other relationship-building communication skills into practice. #WeAreAllInThisTogether and that is one message you want to make sure you get across to your donors. Thank them as well. Consider also how your organization can be a source of information and support during this time. It might be a good time to show appreciation to your donors for all they have done, which will position you better in the long-term. We have to think long-term now. History shows that when a disaster or economic uncertainty arises, non-profits tend to be pretty resilient. During the 2008-2009 recession, non-profit Arts experienced a modest single-year reduction and a following-year recovery. I know this isn’t exactly the same. After all, the entirety of Broadway is shut down, even still we must remain hopeful and remember our unique calling and purpose is needed. The work you do is necessary and important. Please don’t forget that in these hard times.

Inspire

This last bit of advice will not lead to savings or income. Think of it as gaining emotional currency. The news can be downright dreadful right now, but you have an opportunity to bring a smile to your community, your team, even your donors. In navigating the chaos that is our current world, you have likely had some successes. Simply managing to provide programming and connecting with the community you serve is a success that should be shared and celebrated! Your team should be beaming with pride because you are surviving the unthinkable. In the event, you have not been able to adhere to your mission because of WFH orders you should still celebrate. You are in the business of bettering lives through creativity, education, expression, and connection. These are often-overlooked joys of life that give our world so much meaning and beauty. So share some of your organization’s past success stories until the new normal returns to the old normal. Your work has probably lead to some amazing, joyful, and uplifting stories. Use this time to inspire others. Share the impact of your creative non-profit and the difference your donors have made for the cause you serve.

I hope this has provided you with some guidance on how to navigate the uncertainty of these times. I don’t know when “normal” will return until then let’s continue to lean on each other as a collective community to thrive in an unthinkable environment.