Month: April 2013

Editor’s note: This guest post from Jeff Chatterton, a crisis management expert we’re proud to have as a Bernstein Crisis Management contractor, examines what the next steps should be for organizations of all types following the events of last week.

I think everyone breathed a sigh of relief when police officers converged on a bloody, tired and overwhelmed terror suspect Friday evening. The nation has had the weekend to celebrate. But today, the hangovers begin.

It may not seem like it at first, but life as you know it just got dramatically different. The rules we operate under our different. The expectations from the public are different. Smart companies will recognize that and adjust – lazy companies are going to keep trying to do things the way they did last week. They’ll pay the consequences.

I’ve put together a quick list now of four industries which are going to be dramatically affected by events of the past week – but there are many, many more. I’m curious to know who else should be added to the list?

If you run a large public gathering:

Whether it’s a marathon, an art-walk, or you’re an arena manager – things are dramatically different now. Accept it. People don’t need to know simply that they are safe. Who is the best spokesperson to help explain WHY your attendees are safe?

What changes can you clearly point to between this week and last? Do you know how to answer highly emotional questions YOURSELF, without deferring to the local Police Department? What question is simply lying out there that you are horrified to confront – better get it figured out now.

Having a good repartee with your police liaison is important, but it’s NOT the same thing as being prepared to answer tough questions. Your local police Chief is probably great at providing yes or no answers, but not so great at defending your good name, especially when, in his or her mind – they haven’t done anything wrong yet!

If you have ANYTHING to do with immigration:

First – let’s be frank. We all know the input and contributions of immigrants not only made our culture great, but those contributions are what continues to make our culture great. That being said – don’t for a second think you can rely on those sentiments.

How do you convince people you, your employees and/or your clients are great, hard-working people who wish you no harm? In a move that’s both sad and funny, the American Ambassador from the Czech Republic felt forced to issue a news release clarifying that the Czech Republic was not, in fact, the same region as Chechnya.

Think about this – the Czechs are a NATO ally on the war on terrorism! If even they feel obligated to differentiate on an issue of 1,700 miles difference, don’t take the lazy way out and assume the general public will assume your immigrants are the ‘non-scary ones.’

If you handle chemicals:

Reports are coming that the fertilizer plant in West, Texas may have had up to 1,500 times the allowable limit of stored chemicals on site. If you don’t know what RTK legislation is, research it. Called “Right to Know” legislation, it has different forms and variations across the country.

Imagine going to every neighbor in your region and explaining what you have on-site, and what the possible risks are. Imagine the different ways notification could be made… but dream up the worst possible scenario. After the West, Texas fiasco, chances are good a lawmaker in your own State is already ahead of you, and already has something in mind that’s far, far more restrictive and damaging.

You can either play the cards you’ve been dealt, or you can stack the deck for yourself. Figure out what the tough questions are and come up with effective ways of disclosing that information to the community around you.

WHAT! Blow the whistle on yourself without being asked! Oh please – It’s a lot like getting a vaccination – don’t tell me you’re afraid of a little pinch, when that pinch can bring a world of good?

If you’re in Law Enforcement:

Enjoy the moment in the sun. (As an aside, as I was watching the crowd in Watertown, MA cheer the law enforcement community as they left the scene on Friday night, I realized “Isn’t it great where we live in a culture where we CHEER the police, rather than live in fear of them?”)

That honeymoon, unfortunately, is going to dry up quick. As people wake up this morning, questions are going to start coming in soon. “Are you prepared for something like this?” “What are you doing to prevent it?” “Do you track known terror suspects in our community?” “How many are there?” “What other programs do you have in place?”

Spend a few days NOW, while you have the luxury of good will, and draw up every damaging or awkward question you can think of. Now start coming up with good answers, NOW, rather than on-the-fly. You’ll thank me later.

One last point:

Yes, I know you’re busy. Yes I know you have competing priorities. Preparing for these questions is the most effective way of ENSURING your priorities remain on track – and don’t get completely derailed by two months of public confusion and hysteria.

Jeff Chatterton is owner and operator of Checkmate Public Affairs. This post was originally published on the Checkmate Public Affairs blog.

The Nonprofit Finance Fund has released their 2013 State of the Nonprofit Sector report. This is the fifth year for this large and comprehensive study. Almost 6000 organizations responded to the survey. The report includes an online analyzer which enables you to analyze data by state, sector, size, and low income communities. Be sure to check out this aspect of the report.

I strongly recommend that you review the whole report and use the analyzer to assess how your organization stacks up against others in your state and in your sector. I tried the analyzer to review the data for New Jersey – my home state – and found it to be easy to use and have some important data suitable for advocacy. Be sure to check out this aspect of the report. This study was funded Bank of America Charitable Foundation.

Click here to see the report.

I am writing two companion blog articles on the report. My blog article at marionconway.com has highlights mainly about government funding , foundation support, low income communities and comparison of my home state – New Jersey – results versus the total US results. This article features issues related to mission and Board. As always, this article features the study results mixed in with my commentary.

The overall most telling data point for me is that five years ago 44% of nonprofits answered no when asked if they were able to meet demand for services and this year the number is 54%. It is a startling increase in inability to meet demand for services. It is caused by decreased funding from government and foundations, increased demand and increased costs. This combination has become the perfect storm.

So how are nonprofits approaching this dilemma? There are some surprises in the data.

Action taken in 2012

49% Added or expanded services

17% Reduced/eliminated services and programs

39% Collaborated with another organization to grow/add services

30% Upgraded technology to improve/grow services

There is really good news in these survey results. Instead of folding, nonprofits are using the ingenuity that is in their DNA to do more even as the financial picture is challenging. I was so happy to see strong responses to collaboration and technology because I believe that both are essential keys for adapting tp the new financial normal. More good news nonprofits report big expected increased in these areas for 2013. If you’re not on board yet…..jump on! To be sure nonprofits are being cautious and seeking “balanced growth” and just as for profit corporations have become less giddy and more thoughtful about growth so have nonprofits. Many have learned the hard way that government contracts don’t pay for everything and are subject to change and new rules, etc. It a great source of funding but has to be looked at realistically. In 2012 over 40% of nonprofits hired new staff, 36% engaged more closely with Board and 31% relied more on volunteers. For 2013, nonprofits project less hiring and more reliance on Board and volunteers. If you are a Board member or volunteer get ready to roll up your sleeves even more this year.

It needs to be as much about looking at long term sustainability as it does short term survival. I see that many small nonprofits that I work with are finally coming to grips with this.

The survey results suggest that Nonprofit Boards are engaged at an acceptable, if not a perfect level of participation. Here are some of the results:

When signs of impending crisis appear, it’s no time for patchwork fixes

Often, long before a major crisis strikes, there is some sort of indication that trouble’s brewing. In the case of the Texas fertilizer facility that exploded this week, a report from USAToday’s Chuck Raasch and Sharon Jayson indicates that the company may have been lax regarding safety and maintenance procedures as far back as 2006. Here’s a quote:

The fertilizer plant that exploded in West, Texas, killing more than 30 people and causing widespread damage was cited and fined in 2006 for federal environmental violations, the Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday.

West Chemical and Fertilizer was fined $2,300 in March 2006 for failing to update a risk management plan and for having poor employee-training records and no formal written maintenance program, according to the EPA. The company later certified it had corrected the deficiencies, the EPA said.

Thing is, sometimes, even when you’re making your best effort to do the right thing, smoldering crises can go unnoticed until events send a little red flag up. Whatever your business, it’s critical to keep an eye out for indicators, whether in the form of regulatory violations, stakeholder unrest, negative media coverage or internal reports that show something just isn’t quite as it should be.

Once you’ve had a mounting issue pointed out, Crisis Management 101 dictates that you should not only patch it to the satisfaction of regulators (the public, employees, media, whoever), but actually dig to the root of the issue and fix it there.

Will it take some extra effort? Yes. Will it save your organization’s reputation, and, depending on the crisis, huge sums of money, or even human lives? Absolutely.

Put that way, do you have any good excuse not to make that effort?

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

Editor’s note: We don’t usually cross-post between our two blogs, but given recent events we feel it’s important for the following to reach as many eyes as possible.

I know something about terrorists.

From 1972-74 I was part of a US Army counterintelligence operation that successfully infiltrated a front group for what became known as the “Red Army Faction,” a terrorist organization in Europe that killed dozens.

From 1975-77 I worked out of the US Army Intelligence Command’s Ft. Meade HQ, where I read daily classified “Terrorism Reports” from around the globe, activity that seldom made the news back here in the good ol’ “safe” USA.

The names have changed, the nature of the beast has not. We Americans aren’t only at risk abroad, but in our own cities, at our own major events, and at virtually any other public location.

So if you’ve been playing ostrich, get your head out of that hole, because the only way to protect yourself is awareness. The best form of crisis management has and will always be crisis prevention.

Every citizen of Israel knows the warning signs because suicide bombers and other terrorist attackers have been unfortunately commonplace over the years. Russians are more aware than ever because of attacks by the same group, radical Chechens, that are allegedly responsible for the Boston bombing. In the UK, until peace was finally made with the Irish Republican Army, every Brit was hyper-aware of the risk factors every time they went out in public.

Now it’s our turn, and here’s where to start – The FBI’s “Preventing Terrorist Attacks” page. If you want more info, follow any of the many links provided at that page. And share the info with your loved ones. If we all do this, more terrorists will be detected before they can strike, others will have their plans at least somewhat thwarted. Can we prevent them all? Of course not. But the experience of other countries is that we can do a lot more than we’re doing now, as individual citizens.

There is no way law enforcement agencies can do the job themselves, we have to take individual responsibility as well.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training.]