Planning For COVID-19, A Blackbaud Luminate Online Checklist

COVID-19 is affecting every aspect of our daily lives. The nonprofit community is quickly adapting to the new realities and Blackbaud is assisting, providing resources for communicating with donors, gala events and peer-to-peer events.

With so many shifts in fundraising and communications strategy, here are four areas that your organization should consider reviewing to make sure you are speaking to your supporters effectively during these uncertain times:

• Review all scheduled social media posts to make sure they are appropriate as COVID-19 continues to spread.
• Review your social media plan. Make sure you include a backup plan in case of an office illness.
• Review your social and paid search ads to make sure they are appropriate for readers during this period.
• Social Listening is critical. If you have Attentively or another tool that enables you to utilize social listening, be sure to add related keyword terms for COVID-19. If you do not have a social listening tool, utilize of the native search tools to monitor discussions. Consider sharing these conversations with your leadership so they hear directly what your constituents are saying now.

• Review all automated welcome series to make sure the content is appropriate as COVID-19 continues to spread.
• Pay special attention to series that include sharing requests, donation asks or donor upgrades.
• If your organization is attracting large number of new supporters due to the current situation, be sure to add additional tracking as these supporters may need to be communicated to uniquely in the future.

• Review all automated responses, including registration and reminder notices, for event registrants to make sure the message reflects the current plans for your event.
• Update all event registration pages to reflect your current plans.

• Review all automated responses from your existing donation pages to make sure they are appropriate as COVID-19 continues to spread.
• Review any post-donation landing pages to make sure any requests for social sharing are appropriate.
• Consider redirecting all existing donation pages to a new donation page that focuses on the current moment.

Each week review this checklist. As each day passes, new realities will arise, and your organization will need to continually adjust. Making sure you are speaking in ways your supporters appreciate will help your organization thrive now and in the future.

Additional Blackbaud Resources:
Prepare for Day of Event Success
Tuesday, March 17 | 12:00 p.m. ET & Thursday, March 26 | 2:00 p.m. ET

Maintain momentum for your fundraising events amidst COVID-19
March 19 | 1:00 p.m. ET

Tips for Setting Up Your Automated Welcome Series
April 1 | 1:00 p.m. ET