Communicating in a Crisis

PRSA Nonprofit/Association Section Webinar September 18, 2015

By Joan Gladstone, APR, Fellow PRSAGladstone Internationalwww.gladstonepr.com

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Agenda

• Case • Takeaways• Questions

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Preschool

• Nonprofit organization• Operated by church for decades• Serves church members and community• Governed by board of elders• Licensed by state

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Incident

• A group of current and former preschool teachers meet at a restaurant on a Friday night

• A 22-year old former teacher has a few drinks. • She volunteers that six months prior, when she

worked at the preschool, a two-year old girl refused to take a nap at naptime

• She takes out her cell phone and laughingly shows a photo to the group. To punish the little girl, the teacher had taped the girl’s hands and mouth

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When one of the teachers looked at the photo, she was shocked to see that the little girl in the photo was her own daughter.

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Next

• Parent calls the police• Investigators call pastor• Pastor and board member, a former

journalist, plan press conference for 6 a.m. Monday morning– Why this was a bad idea

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A Week Later

• Convince pastor and board to respond to future media inquiries in writing

• Change focus from media to key audiences– Parents– Church members– State licensing– Affiliated community organizations

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Actions

• Send letter to all preschool parents• Provide written statement to the media,

website links in response to social media posts

• Order a temporary suspension of operations for five days for intensive staff training and thorough review of operations– Two teachers must be in a room at all times

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Media Statement/Letter

• We are appalled and shocked that such an incident, if proven to be true, took place.

• We are cooperating with the investigation• We took the following actions (describe)• While the staff member allegedly involved in the

taping incident is no longer employed here, there is more work to be done to create a new educational environment that is safe, loving, and enriching for your children.

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Actions

• Hold a parents-only meeting• Provide spokesperson guidance • Prepare a summary of the meeting discussion

& email summary to all parents• Following week: Announce preschool

reopening

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Five Takeaways

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1. Lead communications response

- Proactive or reactive- Interviews or written statements

- Spokesperson(s) selection and training- Tools for timely key audience outreach

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2. Reach Key Audiences

Audiences (sample list)• Board of Directors• Strategic Partners• Staff• Donors/Sponsors• Volunteers• Members• City/county/state staff• Other:

Communications (examples)• Calls/texts (cell numbers)• Email (e-blast capability)• Scripts for incoming &

outgoing calls• Website• Social media

– incident hashtag• Other:

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3. Anticipate Key Questions

• WHO was impacted?• WHAT happened?• WHERE did the incident happen?• WHEN did you find out?• WHY or HOW did it happen?• HOW will you prevent something like this

from happening again?

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4. Issue Statements Quickly

Know that you won’t have all the facts in the early stages of a crisis.

- Don’t wait- Communicate the facts you DO have

- Update statements as new information becomes available

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5. Change focus from the media to those most affected by the incident

Lead from the heart

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How to Lead from the Heart

• Choose your spokesperson wisely• Discuss tone & demeanor• Even if reporters don’t use the quote, you can

convey empathy statements via– Website, Facebook, social media, YouTube– Employee meetings, Town Halls– Key stakeholder emails, calls, briefings

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Want to learn more about crisis planning and communications?

PRSA International ConferenceSunday, November 8, 2015

1. Half-Day Pre-Conference Course2. Session: Guiding Leaders to Make Wise Decisions

in a Crisis

Thank you!

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