Crisis Communication Plan Template for Nonprofits
What is a crisis communication plan template?
A crisis communication plan template is a fill-in document that settles, before anything goes wrong, who speaks for your organization, who approves each message, whom you tell first and what you say while facts are still arriving. This version has seven fields sized for a nonprofit without communications staff, from roles to a running log.
Most crisis communication templates assume a press office. A typical guide builds the core response team from senior leaders, legal, HR, IT, operations, PR and communications staff. If you are the executive director, the spokesperson and the person who answers the main phone line, start here.
A crisis communication plan is the speaking part of nonprofit crisis management: what you say, to whom and in what order. At your size it comes down to two names, one approval rule, a call order and a holding statement drafted on a calm day. The crisis communication plan template below fits on two pages.
Key Takeaways
- Name a spokesperson, an approver and a backup for the day the crisis is about the executive director.
- Speed comes from the approver. Agree now who signs off and how fast.
- Tell the board chair first and staff before the public.
- Draft the holding statement this week.
- If someone is hurt or at risk, act on safety and required reports first, then call counsel before any public statement.
What Does a Crisis Communication Plan Do?
A crisis communication plan decides in advance who speaks for the organization, who approves each message, which audiences hear first and what the first message says. It covers communication only. The broader crisis management plan covers safety, operations and keeping programs running, and the two should name the same people.
Ready.gov, the federal preparedness site, advises organizations to “determine in advance who will speak to the media and prepare that spokesperson with talking points,” and says messages “can be pre-scripted as templates with blanks.” Its audience list was written for businesses: employees, customers, suppliers, management, and government officials and regulators. A nonprofit’s list starts with the board chair, the funders and the people you serve.
What Goes in a Crisis Communication Plan Template?
A crisis communication plan template for a small nonprofit has seven fields: spokesperson and backup, approver, notification order, holding statement, audience messages, channels, and a contact sheet with a log. Many corporate templates draw a crisis team from six or seven departments. At your size, two people fill every field.
| Field | What to write | Sizing for a small staff |
|---|---|---|
| Spokesperson and backup | Who speaks, and who speaks if that person is unavailable or is the subject of the crisis | Usually the executive director, with the board chair as backup. Match your emergency succession plan. |
| Approver | Who signs off on every message, and by when | One person, with a deadline such as one hour for the first statement |
| Notification order | Every audience in order, and who makes each call | See the order below |
| Holding statement | A first statement you can release before you know everything | Drafted now, edited on the day |
| Audience messages | Two or three lines per audience: what happened, what it means for them, when they hear more | Write the staff and funder lines first |
| Channels | Phone, email, staff meeting, website notice, social media | Note who holds the passwords |
| Contact sheet and log | Contacts for each audience, plus who was told what, and when | Keep a copy outside your own inbox |
The approver line buys speed. A statement drafted in ten minutes can wait a day while three board members trade edits by email. Decide in advance how you will decide: one approver, one deadline.
The backup line covers a quieter risk. When one person holds all the knowledge, relationships and decision authority, the organization is one resignation away from crisis. Write the contact sheet and approval rule where your board chair can find them.
For the holding statement, the Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says accuracy establishes credibility, and that a message can include “what is known, what is not known, and what is being done to fill in the gaps.” Fill in the brackets now:
- “On [date], we learned that [one plain sentence on what happened].”
- “Our first concern is [the people affected: participants, families, staff].”
- “We do not yet know [what is still unclear]. We are [the step under way].”
- “We will share an update by [day and time]. Questions can go to [name, email, phone].”
A holding statement written on a calm day turns the worst morning into an editing job.
What Is an Example Crisis Communication Plan?
An example crisis communication plan shows the template working across the first two weeks. For example, picture a twelve-person youth organization whose largest funder ends a grant with ninety days’ notice. The illustration below follows its plan on day one, day three and in week two.
Day one. The executive director, who is the spokesperson, calls the board chair, who is the approver, within the hour. They agree on three facts and one decision: programs continue through the notice period. Staff hear it that afternoon, before any funder, family or post.
Day three. The executive director calls the other major funders, and donors get a short email signed by the board chair. Families get a note on what will and will not change this term. Every message repeats the same three facts.
Week two. The board reviews the plan for replacing the revenue, and staff get an update in person. The board chair and the executive director then spend thirty minutes on an after-action review: what went out late, who heard secondhand, what to change.
Every step in the illustration rests on two things: an order settled in advance and one approver who moves fast.
Who Do You Tell First, and What Do You Say?
Tell the board chair first, then staff, then the people you serve, then funders, donors and volunteers, then partners and, if needed, the media. Each audience should hear it from you before anyone else, because, as the CDC guidance notes, “the first source of information often becomes the preferred source.”
- Board chair: “I want you to hear this from me first. This is what we know so far.”
- Staff: “You are hearing this from me before anyone outside. This is what it means for your work this week.”
- The people you serve: “Your services continue on [date]. If anything changes, you will hear it from us first.”
- Funders: “We are telling you early because you are a partner. We will update you by [date].”
- Donors and volunteers: “Thank you for standing with us. This is what happened and what your support still makes possible.”
- Partners and media: the holding statement, with the time of your next update.
Your board chair is usually your approver and backup too, so the first call doubles as the approval request. The strongest board partnerships already have a monthly check-in between the chair and the executive director outside formal meetings. If yours does not, start one now. It makes briefing the board first feel routine when it counts.
Reverse the order, and staff who learn about a funding cut from a donor’s post start to wonder what else they have not been told.
How Do You Create a Crisis Communication Plan?
To create a crisis communication plan, block one afternoon with your board chair and work through five steps: name the people, agree on the approval rule, list your audiences in order, draft the holding statement and audience lines, and set a review date. The result fits on two pages.
- Name the people. Spokesperson, backup and approver, with mobile numbers.
- Agree on the approval rule. Who signs off, how fast, and who steps in if they cannot be reached.
- List your audiences in order. Add the funders and partners you would call by name.
- Draft the holding statement and the staff and funder lines. Read them aloud and rewrite anything that sounds like a press release.
- Set triggers and a review date. Decide which events start the plan, such as a lost grant, a departure or a program incident, and review it yearly and after any leadership change.
Keep one copy in a shared folder and one on paper. Then have your backup read the holding statement aloud. Ten minutes of rehearsal shows which fields are still blank.
Which Crises Should a Nonprofit Plan For?
The five crises worth planning for first are lost major funding, a sudden departure or allegation involving the executive director, a data breach, harm or a serious incident in a program, and public criticism. Each has a different first audience, and three need counsel before anything goes out.
| Crisis | Tell first | Call before you speak |
|---|---|---|
| Lost major funding | Board chair, then staff | Your treasurer or bookkeeper |
| Executive director departure or allegation | Board chair, who becomes the spokesperson | Employment counsel |
| Data breach | Board chair, then the people whose data was exposed | Counsel and your technology support |
| Harm or serious incident in a program | Families, and authorities where required | Counsel, and law enforcement or child protection where required |
| Public criticism | Board chair and staff | Your approver, before you reply anywhere |
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, all 50 states have security breach notification laws requiring notice when personal information is exposed. Ask counsel which rules apply to you. In every row, safety comes before any statement: where someone is hurt or at risk, call emergency services and make any required report first. This plan is not legal advice.
What Does Being the Spokesperson Cost You?
Being the spokesperson means producing calm in public while you absorb the news in private. You make one fast decision after another, and the people you would usually think them through with are the board, which employs you, staff, who report to you, and funders, who evaluate you.
Holding the room together all week can leave you unable to switch off at night. If the strain looks like more than a hard week, a mental-health professional or an employee assistance program is the right call.
So ask who you get to think out loud with. A coach is the one relationship with no organizational agenda. Coaching works on how you respond to the funding decision and the board’s opinions, which it cannot change. Six sessions are enough to see two or three patterns. The Center for Nonprofit Coaching offers one-to-one support for the person who has to be the spokesperson.
Where Can You Find Support You Can Afford?
Affordable support for a leader in a crisis comes from a peer executive director who has been through one, your board chair, a funder willing to pay for capacity support, and volunteer-coach programs. Ask for it early, before the hardest week.
At the Center for Nonprofit Coaching, volunteer coaches donate their time, so six one-to-one sessions cost $300, $400 or $600 for organizations with operating expenses under $250,000, under $500,000 or over $500,000, which keeps fees 85%+ below market rate. Coaching is for nonprofit leaders only, and when a problem needs a lawyer or another specialist, we say so during matching.
This week, write your holding statement and send it to your board chair for one round of edits. The full notification order can wait until next month.
If you lead a nonprofit, apply for coaching. If you serve on a board or fund one, you can fund coaching for a leader in crisis.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should you update a crisis communication plan?
Review it once a year and after any change of executive director, board chair or key staff. Check the contact sheet quarterly, since phone numbers and emails go out of date first.
Should a nonprofit ever say “no comment”?
Avoid a bare “no comment,” because it sounds like hiding something. Say what you can confirm, who is affected and when you will share more. If counsel or an investigation limits what you can say, say that plainly and give the time of your next update.
Does a lawyer need to review the plan?
Have counsel review the parts that touch legal duties: data breach notice, employment matters and incidents involving harm or safeguarding. Roles, call order and audience lines are leadership work you and your board chair can do yourselves.
Support for the Leader Who Speaks for Everyone
Six confidential coaching sessions for nonprofit executive directors, from $300. Our volunteer coaches donate their time, which keeps fees 85%+ below market rate.
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