Free kit · Finance and funding
Nonprofit Scenario Planning Worksheet and Layoff Communication Plan: free scenario planning template in Word, Excel and PDF
Decide now, while you are calm, what you would do if your largest grant does not renew. Write three budget cases, agree trigger points with your board and plan for losing a key person. If the worst case means layoffs, the kit plans the board decision, the day, each conversation and the first month with the team that stays.
Word, Excel and PDF · 15 pages · For executive directors and board chairs
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What is inside
- Three budget cases. The lines that move most, written as best, likely and worst cases, with cash at year end and the month it runs out.
- Trigger points the board approves. The number or date that moves you to the next case, who decides and the first action, with wording for the minutes.
- Actions in three groups. Actions sorted into steps that help in any case, steps you can reverse and permanent cuts.
- Human scenarios. The first three actions if a key person leaves, the executive director is unavailable, the board splits or a crisis goes public.
- Quarterly review log. A quarterly log of what changed, which trigger was crossed and the decisions made.
- Before a layoff is final. The board's decision and the questions to take to employment counsel before a layoff is final.
- The day of a layoff. The order of the day, from the people affected outward, and the meeting schedule.
- The layoff meeting. What to say in the first two sentences, and a sheet for each person with pay, benefits and contacts.
- Layoff communication plan. Who tells the board, funders, donors, volunteers and the people you serve, when and how.
- The team that stays. The first staff meeting and a stop-doing list, so the work of cut roles does not land on the people left.
- The first month. Updates every week or two and one-to-one check-ins through the first month.
How to use it
- This week: set one trigger point, the cash number at which you call the executive committee.
- Next board meeting: bring the budget cases (Form A), the actions (Form C) and the human scenarios (Form D), and ask the board to approve the triggers (Form B).
- Each quarter: review the plan with the finance report and log it (Form E).
- Before a layoff is final: try the reversible steps first; then the board decides and employment counsel answers the questions in Form F.
- The day and after: Forms G to K, from the first meeting to the first month with the team that stays.
Not legal advice. The layoff forms list questions for employment counsel; they do not answer them. Employment law turns on your state and your headcount, so call employment counsel in the first week. Check every amount, trigger and date against your budget, your bylaws and your grant agreements.
Questions
Is the kit free?
Yes. Enter your name, email and organization once, and every kit in the library opens on this browser.
Can I edit it?
Yes. The Word and Excel files are fully editable: change the budget lines, the trigger amounts and dates, and the wording of each script to fit your organization.
Does it work in Google Docs?
Yes. Upload the Word file to Google Drive and open it with Google Docs; the tables and ruled lines carry over.
Can I share it inside my organization?
Yes. Copy it, adapt it and share it with your board and staff.
Read the guide
More kits for executive directors
Nonprofit Budget and Treasurer Report WorkbookBudget, 12-month cash flow and a treasurer report that fills itself
Nonprofit Financial and Reserve Policy TemplatesSigning, reimbursement, gift and reserve policies, a controls checklist and a reserve worksheet
Crisis Communication Plan TemplateWho speaks and approves, the call order, holding statements, a 48-hour checklist and logs
With scenarios and layoffs, the worksheet is rarely where it goes wrong. The hard part is carrying the worst case weeks before staff see it, then leading the people who stay. A coach works on your judgment and those conversations; notice rules and severance stay with counsel.
Six sessions of executive coaching: $300, $400 or $600, set by your organization's yearly operating expenses.
