Crisis Communication Plan
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215 Ashmun Street P.O. Box 560 Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan 49783 Email: info@christianfreedom.org Phone : 1-800-323-2273 Skype : cfifreedom
Introduction Due to the nature of Christian Freedom International’s mission to advocate on behalf of persecuted Christians around the world and provide for their spiritual and physical needs, crises are part of the fabric of the organization. Christian persecution does not end, and situations involving those whom we serve occur on a daily basis. This very nature of our organization makes it necessary for our staff and board to be fully trained and prepared to handle various legal, financial, spiritual and physical crises. Much of the assessment of crises, in regards to our work with the persecuted, is part of the job description and is second nature to all staff and board members. However, there may be extenuating circumstances or organizational crises that are above and beyond the scope of daily tasks. For such situations, it is advised that the Events Assessment Worksheet is completed (see Appendix A). Such situations may include, but are not limited to: Environmental threats (natural disasters, gas leaks, air contamination, soil contamination, fire, water damage, explosions, chemical spill, radiation leak, food contamination, etc.) Discrimination (claims based upon race, sexual preference, gender, religion, etc.) Harassment (legal claims, sexual, personal, bullying, physical violence, etc.) Organizational (law suits, governmental investigation, protests, strikes, death of the CEO/president or Board Member, embezzlement and other financial malpractices, false claims made by organization, celebrity scandal, trademark or copyright infringement, organizational scandal involving CEO/president, management, staff or Board Members, negative media attention, false claims made by CEO/president, management, staff or Board Members, charitable ratings decreased, etc.) Circumstances Regarding Persecuted Christians, above the normal crises (imprisonment of large number of people within a particular region of the world, execution or impending execution of a Christian, genocide, claims of torture, destruction of church or property of large number of Christians within a particular region, etc.) Donor or Volunteers (scandals involving major donor individuals or organizations, claims against organization made by these groups of people, etc) Other Miscellaneous (plane crash, interruption in services, merge of organization with another, termination of organization, theft, crimes or other acts committed by an outside person on the premises, negative media attention towards competitor organization, etc.)
Crisis Communications Policy
1. Ensure the safety of staff, volunteers and site. Call 911 of needed. If site has been threatened or is at risk due to the crisis, see the Off-site Policy. 2. All crises should be immediately reported to a supervisor and the CEO/president. 3. The CEO/president shall initially communicate the crisis with the Board Members. An emergency phone tree may also be utilized (see Appendix C). 4. Only the chief organization spokesperson and back up spokespersons are authorized to release information to the media and the public. The chief spokesperson will be the CEO/president. The first back up spokesperson will be the Vice President of Operations; the second will be the president of the Board of Directors. Beyond that, the backup spokespersons shall follow the chain of command through the organization, alternating between Board of Directors and organizational directors (Vice President of the Board of Directors, Child Sponsorship Administrator, next in line on Board of Directors, Program Director of Micro-enterprise, etc.). Never shall an Administrative Assistant be a back up spokesperson unless that assistant is the Public Relations Manager, in which case, the CEO/president, Vice-President and Board President may defer crisis communication to that person. 5. There is one crisis management lead person who shall direct all aspects of the crisis communication. This person shall be determined by the CEO/President and the Board of Directors, and will most likely be the administrative assistant in charge of Public Relations. That person shall draw upon staff, Board Members, and volunteers that have training in specialized areas in which that expertise may be utilized for any particular crisis to aid with the crisis communication. For example, if the crisis is legal in nature and a Board of Directors member is a lawyer, then that member shall be included on the crisis staff for that particular crisis. 6. The lead person will also have the responsibility to report the progress of the crisis and the subsequent communication to the CEO/President and the Board of Directors. 6. All staff, management, volunteers, Board Members, and CEO shall have training on these procedures and will receive a copy for their reference. Additionally, all staff, volunteer, Board Members and CEO will be required to sign a release stating that they have been trained in the organization’s crisis communication plan, have received a copy and agree to the terms of the plan (See Appendix D).
Off Cite Policy During times in which the organization site cannot be utilized for normal activity or crisis activity, the lead person shall secure a site as far west as Newberry, as far east as St. Joseph, or as far south as Cheboygan, Michigan or anywhere in Ontario, Canada, depending upon the available location and the nature of the crisis. All staff, management, CEO/president, Board of Directors shall be required to have a passport and/or a United State Enhanced driver’s license in order to cross the United States/Canadian border located just outside of Sault Ste. Marie. If the site crisis is minimal in intensity, then the site shall remain within the U.S. border, however, certain circumstances such as widespread contamination or natural disaster may require the organization to temporarily be located in Canada.
Media Center In Minimal Intense situations, no media center shall be needed outside of the organization. In Moderate to Highly Intense situations, the designated media center shall be the Sault St. Marie Best Western Event and Conference Room, which shall be secured by the lead person on behalf of the organization. In the event that an off-cite location is necessary, the media center will be located at whichever temporary site is occupied by the organization.
Public Response 1. First, determine all of the facts of the situation. 2. Determine appropriate response and action based upon the Event Assessment Worksheet (Appendix A) and the Event Response Matrix (see Appendix B). The CEO/president, Board of Directors president and the lead person shall perform this task. If other internal advisement is necessary to assess the situation, then this is acceptable. 3. Create plan of internal and external communication plan that matches the circumstance. 4. Develop and prepare communication script for the situation that details the status of the crisis, and the organizational response(s) and action(s) to the crisis. If any resolution has been made or is in the process, include in the communication. 5. Determine which form of communication best fits the crisis. If necessary, the lead shall appoint staff to contact partners, allies, members, volunteers, etc to assist with crisis. 6. All responses to the crisis will be professional, transparent, and honest. “No comment� response is never acceptable. If an answer is unknown, every effort will be made to acquire the information. If the response to a question needs to be withheld for a particular reason, the response will include the declination due to the particular circumstance. 7. Responses should be proactive and action oriented.
Appendix C Phone Tree 1. Initial call to CEO/president, if he/she is not the person who discovered the crisis. 2. Board of Directors president, who calls remaining Board of Directors. 3. CEO/president will then call lead person via phone, pager, text, and/or email. 4. The lead person is responsible to call management and staff that will be utilized for crisis. At that point the lead person designates staff to contact other shareholders in the crisis. 5. The lead person shall be the sole contact to the media, arranging interviews with the spokesperson(s) if necessary. ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Appendix D
I, _________________________________________ (print name), ___________________________________________( print title) of Christian Freedom International have been trained in the organization’s crisis communication plan, have received a copy of the crisis communication plan and agree to uphold the plan at all times, as long as I am employed or serve Christian Freedom International. _____________________________________________(signature) ____/________/_______ (Date)