Not-for-Profit Support | Resource Guide

In response to the COVID-19 emergency, Grace Farms Foundation has remained agile and inventive in our efforts to support our not-for-profit partners and our community, both locally and globally. We are still here for you during this time, to discuss challenges, talk through strategic choices, or look for other organizations facing similar circumstances that we might connect you with. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to Karen Kariuki, Director, Community Initiative, with any concerns, questions or additional needs.

The resources below provide guidance in the areas of strategy, communication, and overall well-being. We hope they will prove helpful during a time in which not-for-profits are facing innumerable and unanticipated challenges.

Strategy

In uncertain times, strategy is at once top of mind and the first thing to fall through the cracks. Ensure you’re making informed decisions by allowing the plans you had in place previously to center you while you attempt to remain responsive, agile and flexible under unusual circumstances. The following resources may be helpful in this effort.

- As states, cities and localities begin the first phases of their re-opening plans, carefully review CDC recommendations, federal and state guidelines before planning your own strategy. For additional support, check out the CDC’s Workplace Decision Tree to help navigate your re-opening decisions.
- If you are located in NY, join Nonprofit Westchester for their Nuts and Bolts of Returning to the Workplace webinar.
- If you are located in CT, review Metro Hartford Alliance’s Business Re-opening Tips and Strategies.
- If you’ve received a Paycheck Protection Program loan, sit in on a webinar by Washington Nonprofits about Forgiveness Rules.
- Read author Ann Mei Chang blogs on Bridgespan’s website Beyond Survival Five Keys to Unlock Social Innovation Amid the Covid-19 Crisis
- Ensure your technology is secure with tips from this blog by Techsoup about Keeping Your Nonprofit’s System Securing During Covid-19
- Pro Bono Partnership provides information about eligibility for accessing discounted legal services and valuable resources.
- Access information about the CARES Act from the National Council of Nonprofits and the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
- Visit the Department of Labor website for detailed information about the Payroll Protection Program and SBA Loans.
- The FMA provides daily updates for not-for-profits, including access to webinars about the Payroll Protection Program and SBA loans.
- Be sure to monitor the Paid Family Leave Act in accordance with The Department of Labor.
- The Department of Labor offers guidance for furloughed or laid off employees seeking unemployment.
- Update or create a Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP)
- Bridgespan offers advice about Managing Through Tough Times.
- SeaChange’s Tough Times Call for Tough Action provides next steps for organization’s struggling during this time.
- Microsoft is offering additional tech support to not-for-profits on the frontlines
- The Nonprofit Leadership Center offers advice on how to move from survivability to sustainability.
- Virtual volunteers are available and eager to serve not-for-profits providing essential services for underserved populations. VolunteerCT, VolunteerNY or VolunteerMatch are designed to connect organizations with qualified volunteers, and this list of virtual volunteer opportunities might generate additional ideas for your organization.

Communication

Whether interacting with stakeholders, board members, or constituents, staying connected to your community likely feels challenging right now amidst constant news regarding the crisis. Consider this an opportunity to provide timely, relevant, and accurate information, however that relates to your effort:

- As ZOOM conference calls and webinar presentations become the new normal, review these Nonverbal Communications – Zoom Conference -Tips from Global Giving
- How is your technology helping you to advance social good? Stanford Social Innovation’s Technology for Good ebook may provide some insight.
- How are you framing your messaging around poverty? Read Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s Talking About Coronavirus and Poverty: a guide to framing your messages.
- Educate yourself on new ways to utilize social media platforms through Bloomerang’s webinars on driving traffic to your site via social media.
- Sprout Social shares 10 Facebook Live Tips to Follow Before, During & After Your Broadcast.
- Boardsource offers free Ask An Expert Email Service and suggestions around roles and responsibilities for communicating and engaging with board members during COVID-19.
- Consider the changing landscape for underserved communities during the COVID-19 crisis using King County’s anti-stigma social media resources, The Opportunity Agenda’s, Talking About COVID-19: Value, Problem, Solution, Action, and Nonprofit Quarterly’s COVID-19: Using a Racial Justice Lens Now to Transform Our Future.
- If you’re hesitant about appropriate outreach any of your audiences, read Classy’s list of 7 Emails Your Nonprofit Can send During Covid Crisis

Well-Being

It is all of our responsibilities to encourage first responders, essential workers, and other providers taking on a greater burden of care to find solace so they can return to their work day in and day out.

- Attend A Community Care Circle with Create Forward to learn how storytelling helps us address our mental and emotional well-being.
- A virtual event with the Center for Council provides a way to connect and foster compassion and resilience.
- Learn how to properly wear a face mask according to guidelines offered by the CDC.
- Help your team prioritize self-care while maintaining connectivity and productivity using these tips from Bravely.
- The Chronicle of Philanthropy offers advice on leading your team through stressful times.
- Our partner Voices of September 11^th offers a tip sheet Providing Support and Building Resilience.
- Register for an online Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course with Copper Beech Institute, one of our not-for-profit partners.
- Attend a free virtual meditation session led by Community Mindfulness Project.
- The Stanford Social Innovation Review recently launched a mindfulness series exploring the important but often overlooked connection between inner well-being and effective social change.
- Our partner Silver Hill Hospital offers tips for dealing with Anxiety During the Covid Crisis
- The Hardwood Institute for Public Innovation offers weekly Facebook Live chats on how to look inward to re-center your organization’s purpose, but also to turn outward to continue to support and build community.
- john a. powell, Director of the Othering and Belonging Institute, shares his thoughts on how to stay connected while being socially distant.

This page was updated on May 22, 2020. Grace Farms Foundation will update these resources on a regular basis until we can reconvene again in person with our space grant partners and visitors.