There’s a lot to be concerned about with the spread of COVID-19 – most importantly, your personal and loved ones safety and wellness. It goes without saying that we hope everyone is healthy and well, and that we are all taking the necessary precautions to make sure we don’t inadvertently infect anyone and do help #flattenthecurve. 

Right now, we all are working overtime to create new messaging and strategies to move our fundraising campaigns forward, with as little financial impact as possible.

However, we cannot forget that there is a lot of people-power involved in creating and implementing our fundraising campaigns and they, like us, are just as impacted by coronavirus. And many can only produce their work from a physical location.

Here’s what we know right now:

A. Several states (including Pennsylvania and New York) have ordered non-essential businesses to close. Printers and lettershops are determining if this law applies to them. Some have received immediate exceptions. 

TO DO: Find out where your print and letterhops are located and see if they will be deemed an essential business or will be able to get an exemption (this is for all states).   

TO DO: You may be asked by your service suppliers to provide a letter stating the dependence of your organization on the services being provided – this is to support their case for keeping their business open; consider these as urgent requests.

TO DO: Have a list of backup suppliers who know they will still be able to operate.

B. Urgent gram materials are at a premium right now. And, while the rest of the paper supply looks fine, because the situation is fluid, there could be shortages.

TO DO: If you can commit to a paper order now, then reserve your paper so you know you have enough of the right material.

C. Everyone is anticipating a surge in campaigns during the summer and fall, as people expect the coronavirus to have abated and the election heats up.

TO DO: As much as you can, plan ahead and share those plans with your partners and suppliers. Don’t expect that getting mail out the door will be business as usual – even if things have returned to normal.

D. The postal service has reported only minor disruptions. Delivery to/from China and Europe are being delayed due to airline restrictions. However, service within the United States is currently only minimally impacted. The Postal Service is considered an essential business and, at this time, not at risk for shutting down.

TO DO: Stay on top of any delivery issues by visiting https://about.usps.com/newsroom/service-alerts/.

E. Caging and keying operations may not be considered essential businesses. 

TO DO: Confirm their state of affairs and back up plans in the face of this emergency.

TO DO: Be prepared to sign a letter to show that they are an essential business.

F. Facebook review has slowed because of COVID-19. Also, COVID-19 ads are on a slower review process.

TO DO: As much as possible, get your ads in early and start the approval process.

TO DO: Get in touch with your Facebook rep, who can speed up the approval process.

G. Internet bandwidth is being maxed out. The EU is already near capacity and the US isn’t far behind. This means slower speeds for everything from video conferencing, to streaming services, to even page load times.

TO DO: Streamline all of your pages and remove any extraneous graphics, HTML, or video.

TO DO: Strip your donation pages of as much as possible, including oversized graphic headers.

This information was current as of March 23rd. We’ll continue to update as we hear more.