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Sensitize your staff
People who have never had to ask for help before are often embarrassed or inhibited to do so. Reinforce with your staff the need to make everyone they serve feel welcome and deserving of help. When parents are embarrassed to ask for assistance, it's usually their children who suffer the most.
Don't abandon your original mission
Low- and moderate-income families need your support more than ever. Don't abandon them in their greatest time of need.
Expand your referral list
The human-service needs in many communities are currently overwhelming. All the more reason to collaborate, cooperate and partner with other organizations and extend your referral list of service organizations.
Clearly understand what each of these organizations is capable of delivering in the way of services. At the same time, they should clearly understand your service capabilities and limitations.
If you can't help someone, do your best to refer them to an organization that might be able to meet their needs. But avoid sending them on a wild goose chase. These folks already are under enough stress.
Bend but don't break
Many nonprofits are already stretched thin. Despite the need to help more people, your primary goal is to remain solvent so you can continue to keep your doors open and your mission alive.
It may take a while, but eventually many of these people will get back on their feet. As a consultant who specializes in branding, I can assure you that by helping someone out of a jam during these critical times, they will favorably remember you and your organization long into the future.
Larry Checco is president of Checco Communications, a consulting firm that specializes in nonprofit branding, and author of "Branding for Success: A Roadmap for Raising the Visibility and Value of Your Nonprofit Organization." This article originally appeared in the Fall 2009 issue of Larry's Branding Bytes quarterly e-newsletter.
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