“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
― Benjamin Franklin

As we are all coping with the new reality of COVID-19, we at Dunleavy & Associates, like many businesses, are pondering the next steps – both the challenges and the opportunities - presented by this urgent situation. In this posting, we share with you some of the business practices we have adopted internally over the last 18+ years working in a virtual environment which allows us to retain maximum flexibility to support you, our clients. It is our hope that these practices may inform your own organizational planning in the coming days and weeks.

In addition, we offer you a range of ideas on how you might seize this opportunity to build your internal capacity in terms of fundraising, board effectiveness, programming, and operations, once your organization’s immediate needs are well in hand. Together, these steps can provide a solid foundation to propel your organization forward as COVID-19 becomes contained and restrictions begin to lift.

This communication is designed to show you how we think and suggest some ways to prepare your organization for the greatest effectiveness. Know that we are always here to share our knowledge and experience, and “plug and play” our people power to support you and your constituents on an interim or longer-term basis during these uncertain times.

Ready, Set, Go – A Preparedness Framework

We recognize that many of our clients already have plans in place to support business continuity. At the same time, we want to share some details about how we at Dunleavy & Associates keep the safety and well-being of our employees at the forefront while allowing for uninterrupted service operations even during times of emergency.

The following framework is intended to help you identify your strengths as well as gaps in your preparation. Once gaps are identified, you can build a plan to fill those holes not only for the current urgency but for future events as well.

In our planning, we have focused on three key areas of inquiry to ensure continued service delivery:

• Impact to our systems and infrastructure – are our systems and infrastructure ready to handle the potential impact from the event?

• Impact to a location – are the locations from which we deliver service affected and what is our mitigating response?

• Impact to people – are we prepared for any impact on our staff and volunteers who are responsible for delivering our programs to our constituents?

Below are actions and practices that we have adopted to secure our systems, locations, and people, that you may want to consider as well.

• Are you able to access critical files / systems from remote locations? – At Dunleavy, our critical files and systems are cloud based. We utilize platforms that can scale dynamically, allowing us to reallocate resources or redistribute our utilization loads as necessary.

• Do you have access to multiple communications systems to conduct business? – Our digital communications systems such as email, phone, calendaring, and internal team messaging are in place. The systems can be easily re-routed and travel with us – whether we are at an office, in our homes, or on the road.

• Do you have a backup plan for your data in case you need to reconstruct at a new location? – At Dunleavy, our daily work and client archives are stored in Dropbox, which is secured and backed up instantaneously. In addition, our laptops are tied to cloud-based automated backups that run in the background continuously.

• Are your services impacted by your ability to be at a set location? –  Almost all of the systems we use to deliver services can be accessed via a web browser. If a desktop computer is unavailable, we can use a laptop, Chromebook, tablet, or smartphone in order to maintain business continuity from any location in the world.

• Can you work virtually? – One of the biggest obstacles of working remotely is the ability to communicate effectively in real-time. At Dunleavy, we use Microsoft Teams to be able to chat, meet, call and collaborate from anywhere. If these tools are cost-prohibitive, consider free conference calling and video chat resources available online. With the use of video, audio, shared screens, and instant messages we can continue to collaborate and serve our clients fully, even if we cannot be together in person.

• Do you have enough “bench strength”? – Here at Dunleavy, we have overlapping, redundant skill sets and expertise to ensure sustained support for our clients even if certain members of our team become unavailable.

Lemonade out of Lemons – Building Capacity for the Future

It’s getting rather quiet out there! Once the need for an urgent response to your services and operations has eased, you may find that you, and/or members of your staff and board, have unexpected downtime. How might you best use this time in an organized, proactive, and accountable manner to build your capacity so that you can jump back in, and jump ahead, once business returns to normal?

Think about your “wish list” of projects that you know will make a critical difference to your bottom line, but always seem to be reprioritized to the bottom. Which of these can be managed through phone calls, video conferencing, email, team-based project platforms, or independent study? How might you deploy your staff or board to plan and implement these initiatives in a virtual environment?

The following list is intended to stir ideas for consideration. Although far from exhaustive, we hope you will use this list to identify your own organizational priorities and create your action plan with specific goals, responsibility allocations, identification of resource needs, and timelines.

• Strategic Planning / Succession Planning – Is your strategic plan current and effective? With so many senior staff nearing retirement, is your house in order for the future?

• Program Assessment – How long has it been since you have taken a close look at your programs for relevancy, efficacy, and best in class? Do you have a methodology in place for measuring your programs against best practices and peer data, and obtaining feedback from your constituents? Now maybe a great time to create a plan.

Board Functionality

• Board Development – Have all of your board members received fiduciary/governance training?  Do they consistently exhibit sound practices in fulfilling their board duties? How long has it been since you had a board retreat?

• Assessment - Do your board members regularly complete individual self-assessments as well as assessments of board functionality as a whole, based on written expectations?

• Pipeline of New Members - Is there a systematic approach to identifying, vetting, nominating, and onboarding new members based on organizational needs? Are there documents to support this process?

• Bylaws, Charters, and Related Documents - Now might be a good time to take a fresh look at bylaws and committee charters for relevancy and best practices.

• CEO Oversight – Does your board regularly fulfill its obligation to set mutually agreed-upon goals, provide a performance review, assess compensation, and address succession issues if on the horizon? 

Fundraising

• Digital Engagement­­ – How robust is your knowledge of digital platforms and actual functionality to engage new supporters and raise funds through social media, peer-to-peer activities, gamification, on-line auctions and challenges, smartphone apps, and the like? Is your website appropriately optimized to reach your intended audiences, with compelling calls to action, and photographic and video storytelling?

• Grant Writing ­- How recently have you updated your model grant language, or researched local and national grant opportunities to determine your organization’s eligibility? Do you have a systematic approach to identifying, submitting, tracking and reporting your grant requests?

• Major Gifts – Do you have a major gifts program with established communications, financial goals, and recognition opportunities?

• Planned Giving – If your organization is well-established with a history of long-time supporters, have you instituted a fulsome planned giving program? With baby boomers at or near retirement, now is the time to invite these donors to help secure your organization’s future through bequests, life insurance, gift annuities, or other legacy gifts.

• Board Engagement – Is your board chair and development committee fully engaged as ambassadors and actively participating in the development process? Is every board member donating within their means, every year, so that you can report 100% participation? Have you considered ways of involving your board members in stewardship, such as assigning thank you calls and letters throughout the year?

Human Resources & Professional Development

• Hiring/Search – Have you postponed any of your hiring needs because you didn’t have time to manage the search process? When is the last time you reviewed your organization’s job descriptions for accuracy and sufficiency? With so many employees working remotely, it’s a good bet that some will be watching the job boards for new opportunities. Consider getting your open positions listed and start the search process using virtual communications tools.

• Professional Development – Work with your staff to identify opportunities to grow their expertise and skills. Have your staff research online learning tools (articles, studies, skill training, classes) and set specific goals. Build into the process the opportunity for staff to share their learning with one another.

• Policies & Procedures - Take a fresh look at your employee handbook. Are your policies and procedures current with legal requirements and best practices (e.g., discrimination, whistle-blower, harassment, conflict of interest, safety protocols)? Are they competitive and responsive to the needs of a changing workforce (e.g., work-from-home, flex time, PTO)? Do you have processes in place to document and retain employee acknowledgments of these policies?

• HR Training – Consider using this time to schedule virtual training for programs such as Diversity and Inclusion, and Harassment, for both staff and board members.

Physical Plant

• Utilization Assessment – Consider your current needs as compared to your space and functionality. Do you have too much space or is it being underutilized? Does your staff have the right office equipment to work most effectively? Can you adopt new remote work guidelines for certain staff functions that will allow for continued organizational growth within the current footprint?

• Maintenance and Upgrades – Do you have appropriate security measures in place? Are your systems regularly maintained and within the warranty periods? Are there projects that have been waiting in the wings because you and your staff haven’t had the time to plan the design, specifications, and budget? Now maybe a good time to create a capital improvement plan, including related fundraising, that can be spread over the next few years.

These are just a few ideas to inspire you towards greatest preparedness and ongoing success. If you would like to discuss any of these issues further or inquire as to how Dunleavy & Associates can assist you in any way, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me or any member of the Dunleavy team directly. We wish you and your entire organization the greatest health, stability, and opportunity for growth during the coming weeks and months, in service to your mission. We are here for you.