Change Of Plans

Yesterday was my 40th birthday. Let’s just say I didn’t envision it quite like this.

COVID-19 has thrown all of our lives upside down. We are all living a new, unfamiliar, and wholly uncomfortable normal. While the world is rightly fixated on the biggest story of our lifetime, it is also true that your mission remains important. Your cause still matters, even when the eyes and ears of the world are focused away from it.

No one knows how long this will last. As I shared two weeks ago, many in the social sector don’t have the luxury of just waiting it out. You need to pivot and do so quickly. Here are five things that you can do to ensure your mission and brand stay relevant in these strangest of times:

1. Determine what you are best built for.

A wise colleague (and former Governor) shared in a conversation recently that there are two main phases to a crisis. There is the immediate reaction (Phase 1) where rapid response, triage, and immediate instinct are the core competencies most relied upon. Then there is the rebuilding (Phase 2), which comes after the initial shock, and relies upon skills like strategic positioning, organization, and mobilization. Which phase is your organization best built for? Answering this may be the best first step to determining the most appropriate pivot for your organization at this time. Play to your strengths.

2. Lean into your brand.

At a time when a shift is needed in your messaging, your programming, and perhaps even your operating strategy, one thing should remain consistent: your core identity. If you have ever done deep brand work (even better if you’ve done it with me!), now is the time to review it. Anything you pivot into at this moment should remain consistent with your core vision, mission, and values as you have always known them. If you have never done brand work, here is a place to start. You should consider using this time to reflect on it. The public offerings and messages may change, but your core identity should not.

3. Communicate in this new context.

Your mission remains relevant, and perhaps even more so now. You have an opportunity to tell that story to the public and to your stakeholders. In what ways are the people you advocate for uniquely impacted by the public health and financial crisis we are experiencing? In what ways are the policies you promote more critical now than they were a month ago? In what ways has this crisis exposed the injustices you fight against? Tell those stories now. Your cause still matters.

4. Adjust your programming to meet the new normal.

The services and programs you once relied on may need to be put on a shelf for now, but that doesn’t mean your work stops. The business community is finding ways to adjust their own product offerings to meet this moment. The social sector can, too. What are you uniquely good at that can meet the challenges of today? What are your stakeholders looking for in this moment that you can help provide to them? What new problem needs solving that may be oddly similar to the problems you were solving before this crisis hit?

5. Be the place for answers.

These are strange times. Everyone is searching for answers. What questions are your stakeholders asking most? Whether this crisis is driving people to seek out new resources or your old resources are suddenly more popular as a result of this crisis, the social sector has an opportunity to be the place for answers to the questions people are asking. A partner and client of Adamec Communications, the National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement, created an entire new section of their website to offer resources related to their mission, which is receiving renewed attention these days as parents engage with their child’s education in a whole new way.