Fundraising in times of Corona – How to prepare for crisis

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. Please follow the guidelines issued by the WHO and your respective countries agencies and help in the effort to contain the spread of the Corona virus.

The coronavirus has a tight grip on the entire world at the moment – a situation we have never seen before to this extend. While it feels like we are at the height of the crisis at the moment, this definitely is not the case. Many countries will still get to feel the most difficult effects of this pandemic. While this is a scary situation, it also has some hope – we still have time to prepare somehow. And by preparing I don´t mean stockpiling toilet paper!

Can we help? One of the most important questions during the Corona crisis!

It is very important to follow the guidelines by the WHO about quarantine and social distancing. Most importantly, wash your hands. Stay at home as much as you can and start working from a home office if possible. But you can also use that time staying at home to think about how you can fundraise for your organization in these times to deal with the corona pandemic.

We recommend keeping updated on the most current updates from both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In this article, we want to give some tips for small to middle-sized organizations for how to prepare for a crisis – in this case, the corona crisis.

Also Read: How to find funding in the Corona crisis?

There will be needs in a couple of weeks that you have to fulfill and your work can make a huge difference in your community. Make sure you are prepared as best as you can to have the maximum impact.

Make sure your bank account is up and running

This might sound silly, but now is the time to check if your bank account is running and everything is in order. Once the pandemic really hits your country, banks might close or just be limited to certain services. If there is any problem with your account or your cards, fix it now! Make sure you have a secure way of receiving and retrieving the money so that you don’t have to worry about this once the situation gets dire.

Get your papers in order

The same goes for your organization’s paperwork. Is there anything that needs to be renewed or redone? Do it now! Once the situation in your country is difficult, you will not have the time and opportunity to do so. If you want to apply for any kind of institutional funding, you will need your paperwork, so make sure it is up to date.

Set up a profile for a crowdfunding campaign

In times of crisis, one way to get funding is to set up a campaign on a crowdfunding page like GoFundMe. Sometimes it can take a couple of days to set up a profile there though, so do it now. This way, you can start fundraising immediately when the situation gets difficult – or even now. Don´t wait until the last minute for this and prepare everything. You cannot imagine how busy you will be once your country is fully hit by the virus, so do as much work as you can now.

Bring your homepage and Facebook profile up to date

At times of global crisis, many donations come from private citizens that are willing to support others in times of need. One thing they will definitely do before sending some money your way is checking your homepage or your Facebook page to make sure your organization is legit. Take some time now to make those pages look professional and up to date. If the last update is from two years ago, people will probably think you are not active and will keep looking for a different organization to give to.

Save your information in decentral place

Once the situation gets dire, you might not always have access to all the information you need to submit proposals and to fundraise from institutions. Make sure now it is saved somewhere in the cloud where the whole team can access it. This means copies of financial records, the registration papers, CVs of your staff, proposals, etc. Make sure everybody who needs to know knows how to access this information and don’t keep it on one computer.

Search for potential donors

Now is the time to do donor research to find potential donors who can support you during this phase. Once you get busy, you will not have the time to do in-depth research. So, do it now! You can make a list of foundations and institutions that fund in the area of health. Embassies also often support local projects in times of crisis. Collect your information in an Excel file and save it somewhere where it is accessible for everybody in your organization.

Start preparing proposals

You can even start preparing proposals. Even if there is no state of emergency declared yet, you can already start getting ready. You might still miss some details, but you can fill in the blanks later. Some parts of the proposal are already set, and you will probably already have a good idea of what you want to do once the situation gets difficult. Use your time now and create quality work instead of winging it once you are already in emergency mode.

These are just some basic tips on how you can prepare for the outbreak of coronavirus in your country in terms of fundraising. There are other ways for organizations of a certain size as well, that we don’t look at in detail in this article.

________________________________________________________

If you want to learn more about fundraising in Humanitarian Emergencies, make sure to check out our online course. In this course, our experienced instructor Erik Detiger shares important information about how to get funds during crisis situations and helps you to prepare your organization! There has never been a better time to be prepared than today, so check out the course and make sure your organization is set up well for everything that is coming.