With our democracy in jeopardy, far-right extremists rolling back our rights, international wars and political destabilization, climate-change-driven natural disasters on the rise and more, these days can feel like one neverending doomscroll. 

As fundraisers, it can be challenging to navigate the doom and gloom *in addition to* securing the funds necessary to strengthen our causes and create change. But when the news — whether scary or joyful — is related to your cause or affects the communities you serve, engaging in rapid response is a powerful way to engage your file. 

Unfortunately we’ve seen, time and again, organizations become hamstrung by internal roadblocks and other challenges when a rapid response opportunity arises. We get it: these big rapid moments can feel pretty overwhelming – which is why we put together a quiz to help you figure out whether your nonprofit is ready to leverage rapid response opportunities. 

Ready to dig in?

News related to an issue your organization works closely on just broke, generating national attention and dominating headlines. How does your organization respond?

A. The organization will issue a press release statement a few days after and not much else.

B. Time to get on Zoom! We’re calling an internal meeting with stakeholders and vendors or consultants to coordinate a response across departments. We should be ready to jump on this tomorrow.

C. Good news, we already had a plan in place for moments like this! We can send out a fundraising email in less than 24 hours.

There are some concerns among internal stakeholders in your organization and/or among partner organizations that the news “isn’t in our lane” and not worthy of a response. Is this right?

A. Yes, it’s not worth the time and trouble for our organization, and supporters won’t understand the value — there is other campaigning and work to stay focused on that is more closely tied to our mission.

B. Maybe — perhaps we just scrap a bigger email advocacy or fundraising campaign and issue a small statement on social media.

C. Absolutely not! Our organization’s work, and our supporters, are very much affected by this moment. We’re ready to lay out to supporters why their action, and investment in our work, is crucial to the response.

Your organization is ready to respond. What happens after that?

A. Ten people are on the approval chain for your organization’s email draft on this rapid response moment with no timeline to get their edits in. Each and every person must have a say in the approval, even if it takes days.

B. It takes a while to get content together, with communications and digital departments preparing their own content and then running approvals through the executive team.

C. Your team relies on the strategy, team, and process(es) you’ve prepared precisely for this moment — a quick huddle of key stakeholders, brief talking points to inspire an email draft and social media, a clear approval process — and tee your messages up for launch!

The rapid response email is out, and wow! It’s generating a strong fundraising response. What should your organization do now?

A. Nothing! The work is done!

B. Your organization pivots back to regularly scheduled content. It’s already written and approved, and your content and suppression and segmentation strategies are already outlined, so there’s nothing left to do but tee up the emails for launch!

C. Your team takes two important next steps: 1) Reviewing your upcoming planned content and strategy and adjusting as needed, asking yourselves: Is this still relevant at this moment in time? Is this the best way to retain your existing and new rapid response donors and engage your supporters? and 2) Bringing internal stakeholders to the table again to measure performance and the results, and determine whether additional rapid response campaigning makes sense for your file.

Three months later, there is a major update on this rapid response moment. Should your organization do anything?

A. No, it’s time to move on!

B. Maybe, but we’re not sure if our file remembers or cares about it now.

C. Yes! It’s important for our organization to come back to our supporters – especially those who donated or took action – with an update on what’s at stake, the impact, and/or the victory. After sending our rapid response update, we make a note to revisit again as future updates emerge, and on the anniversary of the event.

Time's up

Rapid response moments are an important opportunity for your organization to speak clearly to an event affecting the world, the people you serve, the issues you are advocating for, or perhaps all of the above. More importantly, they can be a real catalyst for donors to invest in and engage with your work. 

Strategizing about your approach and designing a plan ahead of time will make any big moment feel like less of a big question mark and make certain your supporters are front and center in any response. 

Any other questions? Drop us a line – we’d be happy to take a look at your existing strategy and help you chart a path to rapid response fundraising success!