By the Nonprofit Risk Management Center

One simple way to help everyone on the team focus in an emergency is with a Crisis Management Manual. The manual functions as a checklist of what to do when and whom to call when. Each nonprofit’s manual reflects the most likely scenarios the organization will have to face and suggests a method for handling those crises. We suggest you keep the format simple and easy to read; use plenty of short sentences and bulleted phrases. Include charts to show the flow of responsibilities and actions, which serves as an at-a-glance reference of what an individual should do. A sample table of contents follows; feel free to use it as a springboard to developing your own manual.

A sample Crisis Management Manual table of contents and other crisis-related worksheets, diagrams and charts can be found in Vital Signs: Anticipating, Preventing, and Surviving a Crisis in a Nonprofit.

The Nonprofit Risk Management Center welcomes questions and comments at 703.777.3504.