COVID-19: Resources for Organizers during a Crisis

Published on
April 5, 2020

“May you live in interesting times”

The ironic sentiment of the above statement has never been more apparent than now. And these are interesting times indeed.

As we all get our heads around this new reality, for organizers it is even more important to do so quickly, so that you can continue working on the causes that matter.

Here is a list of resources we have compiled to give organizers and campaigners a head start.

Shifting to Online organizing

The first and primary focus is managing staff and volunteers that are working remotely.

Start by reading the Blueprints for Change guide on Distributed Organizing.

Online Organizing best practices

When shifting from an offline to a remote culture, where every staff member and volunteer is working from home, it is possible to be just as efficient.

You will need substitutes for the tools and strategies you use when working offline. Here are some best practices when shifting from offline to online organizing

Also check out New/Mode’s article on Digital organizing when isolated.

More:

Advocacy campaigning during the pandemic

Digital mobilization tactics

Messaging during the pandemic

The virus crosses racial and economic divides. The messaging from your campaigns needs to reflect that. Think globally.

Here’s a piece talking about communicating during the coronavirus crisis

This booklet from Anat Shenker-Osorio covers responses to racism, inequality, individualism, and the role of the government during the crisis. 

The Opportunity Agenda talks about using the VPSA (Value, Problem, Solution, Action) format when communicating a message.

Organizing events during COVID-19

Conferences and events are being postponed or canceled worldwide. The other option is to host them online.

Here’s how to market an event during the crisis.

Read these Tips and tools for virtual events.

Guide to hosting virtual events on Zoom.

Organizing virtual protests.

For when in-person gatherings are absolutely necessary, WHO has laid out guidelines for mass gatherings during the pandemic.

Tools and tips for organizing online

Create a workspace for staff and volunteers with Slack: Setting up Slack for organizing.

Coordinate with volunteers with video calls: Here is the Blueprints for Change guide for organizers on setting up virtual meetings.

Reach supporters on social media using Facebook groups for organizing.

Using WhatsApp for campaigning.

Social media best practices during the coronavirus.

Continue getting valuable data on supporters with these Tips for remote surveys.

Personalized communication with supporters

Remote working certainly limits the ways you can communicate with supporters. Face to face interactions, such as through door to door canvassing is not an option.

Thankfully, channels like texts and calls still allow you to have engaging conversations.

Have remote volunteers and staff reach people through Distributed Phone banking and Distributed text messaging.

Here how you can communicate during a crisis with phone calls and text messages.

Fundraising during the pandemic

Be compassionate in your fundraising requests. If you aren’t on the frontlines of the fight against the virus, avoid being tone-deaf in your messaging.

How to raise funds during the crisis.

Answers to 5 pressing fundraising questions during the pandemic.

Guidance for staff working on location

Not everyone is going to be able to work from home. 

If your cause requires staff or volunteers to be on the ground, here is OSHA’s guide for preparing workplaces during COVID-19.

CDC has a short booklet with tips to prevent the spread of coronavirus at the workplace, at home and in commercial establishments.

Maintaining well being during the crisis

Organizers deal with challenges every day, but the looming threat of a pandemic can create additional pressure.

Here are some useful guidelines for maintaining your wellbeing and that of the people you work with.

If your are working to help communities during the crisis, here are some Mutual aid/Community care resources.

More resources for organizers

Take a look at these curated resources from other organizations and organizers around the web:

Tech For Campaign’s guide on campaigning during Coronavirus.

COVID-19 and campaigning: Thoughtful Campaigner.

Community building resources from Indivisible.

PowerLabs resources for organizers, campaigners and digital strategists.

New Left Accelerator’s list of resources.

What did we miss?
Let us know what we can add to this article to make it a more comprehensive list for organizers.

Mukundan Sivaraj Linkedin
Mukundan (that's me!) is a writer at CallHub, an outreach platform that connects nonprofits with their supporters through voice and text messages. Mukundan’s focus on nonprofit technology and communication helps him show nonprofits, big and small, how technology can help elevate their cause.