COVID-19 is causing organizations to reevaluate how prepared they are for emergencies. We have responded to the crisis by partnering with Tech Impact in Philadelphia to put up a website (preparerespondserve.org) that provides technology and human resources advice on supporting remote workers.

Please visit and fill out this form if you want a quick technology consult or email us at hrconsults@501commons.org for a Human Resources consult.  Let us know if you are aware of other resources that should be listed.

Emergency and Business Continuity Planning

While none of us would have predicted the current coronavirus conditions, we all know having an emergency plan is a good thing. It helps an organization prepare for sudden staff or funding changes, hair-raising weather events, and everyday disruptions, as well as pandemics.  But most nonprofits don't have a complete plan that covers all the "what-ifs."

In this situation, emergency and business continuity planning will help your organization continue its mission in the long run. We keep your costs down by deploying members of our skilled volunteer program, the Executive Service Corps, to work with you under the supervision of our program manager. The planning services we offer are:

• PRS - Emergency and Business Continuity Plan. We can help you develop a comprehensive emergency and business continuity plan (including contagion conditions). We also have a customized version of this program for low income housing projects. We provide you with two service corps consultants who spend 50-80 hours:
• Arranging an assessment,
• Facilitating virtual planning meetings to prioritize services or modify your operating plan, and
• Writing your emergency plan, using our PRS Guide, a comprehensive nonprofit version of the guide FEMA prepared for businesses.
• Guiding you on preparing a Go-Kit with critical emergency information and supplies.
• Business Continuity Only. We can provide you with a service corps consultant(s) to help create a focused one-year business continuity plan for the current situation that determines your high priority program offerings and how they can be safely delivered. We will work with you to document a realistic plan for revenue and expenses, establish succession plans in case of staff layoffs or protracted illnesses, and help you craft the communications you need for staff, clients, and community partners.
• Emergency succession plan for critical staff.
• Emergency Assessment. If you already have an emergency plan, test it by taking our assessment which measures 46 aspects of emergency preparedness. If there are gaps, we can show you how to beef up your plan.

Benefits of planning

Keep your organization, staff, and clients safe. Emergency plans are just as important as the insurance we buy to kick in when something bad happens. Recent disasters have demonstrated that nonprofits without a plan often have to close their doors because the emergency overwhelms the organization.

You can see the impact of planning below in the pre- and post-assessment scores of 16 organizations funded by United Way that completed the PRS program.

Contact jan@501commons.org to get started. When emergencies and disruptions strike, you will be glad you took action!