How Can News Organizations Prepare to Fundraise in Times of Crisis?
The COVID-19 pandemic caught the world mostly unaware and sent businesses both private and public into tailspins while organizations– newsrooms and journalists included–struggled to both continue to do their jobs and keep their heads above water while the pandemic spiraled out of control. Though society hoped for some respite two years after the onset of the pandemic, Russian President Vladimir Putin soon thereafter invaded Ukraine, creating the largest refugee and humanitarian crisis in Europe since World War II.
All of that is to say that it’s impossible to predict the timing of a crisis. Therefore, the only thing one can do is have an action plan in the event of one. The COVID-19 pandemic presented unique challenges that left unprepared parties in very challenging situations, and though those mistakes are now in the past, examining them is critical to learn for future.
So what can news organizations do to fundraise during such trying times? There are several different options.
Be Prepared for Fluctuating Donors. People’s first response in a crisis is to protect themselves and their assets, as it is yours. You may find that previously reliable donors will immediately drop, and that otherwise negligible donors actually begin giving more: The Fundraising Effectiveness Project documented this exact phenomenon in Q1 of 2020. While giving was high, donor retention rates across private sector businesses dropped.
Collaborate with the Newsroom to Create a Crisis-Era Mission Statement. Alignment of values during the COVID-19 pandemic heightened philanthropy across the private sector, according to Theresa Leinker, senior consultant at Schultz and Williams and director of ElevateNP. “For new donors, those first-time donors gave differently because they wanted to meet that extraordinary need when it was heightened, but that need still exists,” she said at the Lenfest News Philanthrophy Summit. As journalists are active members of their communities, working with them to create a mission statement that will align with the community in times of crisis is vital.
Deepen Community Engagement. Connecting with the community and rallying them around the improved mission statement will be very important to successful fundraising. “You are the best and most experienced organization who can make an impact in this area. That’s what they want to know,” said Leinker. Focusing on supporter experience is the most pivotal tool to deepening community engagement. Specifically, how can the organization give back to its community of supporters? This response is also vital for building public confidence through future crises.
Brainstorm and Problem Solve as a Team. Retaining the staff’s and the community’s engagement is vital for sustaining the organization. As the COVID-19 pandemic showed, sometimes there is no projected end date for a crisis and the support the organization will need will be something more long term. Keeping everybody sane and engaged during that process is both difficult and frustrating in and of itself–but vital to both engaging the community and building confidence in your organization through and after the crisis.
Monitor Donors and Donor Amounts. Counterintuitively, people are more likely to donate money a second time after donating a first time than a new person is likely to donate to the organization at all, according to Leinker. “If you stop asking for money, donors are left to draw their own conclusions, both about your need and your impact, and the organizational status,” Leinker said. “We don’t want them to be thinking anything like that. We want them to really feel engaged.” By monitoring donors and donor amounts, you can also conduct external wealth checks by tracking who has given what and over what period of time–and that may make future donations easier to target.
Consider Other Streams Of Revenue. Several organizations made resources available quickly for freelancers or non-profit organizations–it never hurts to track those down, see what your organization or your writers may be available for, and get all hands on deck. This is also a good time to evaluate streams of revenue for the organization in general so that the donor pool can be diversified, which will create greater support through another crisis.
Though COVID-19 taught society that you certainly can’t always be fully prepared, it also taught society that having some sort of plan to fall back on when the entire world grinds to a halt is very important. Hopefully, nothing on the scale of COVID-19 occurs again. But being better prepared for a future crisis can rectify some of the mistakes made with COVID-19.
