Giving Compass' Take:

• Ryan Eller, writing for Medium, discusses how to build movements while working remotely in response to COVID-19. 

• What are the most significant barriers for funders working remotely to enact rapid responses during this pandemic?

• Learn how philanthropists can still be effective amid the coronavirus epidemic. 

As organizations of all shapes and sizes move online, in an effort to unite around our collective health and safety, we must also remain mindful of the communities we serve and uplift. Many of our organizations balance on-the-ground and digital organizing every day. Moving rapidly to a remote world — hopefully for a short time — does not have to be as daunting as it seems.

Define American is an intentionally remote organization and has been since 2013. We have discovered the challenges and benefits of building national movements with distributed teams. As much of the workforce moves to remote working, many have reached out for advice on staying connected and focused while continuing to impact the national conversation in this new era.

For some of our friends, responding to this pandemic means working remotely for the first time; for others, it means refining policies and procedures to ensure they maintain the greatest impact. And in some cases, it might mean redefining what impact even means for our movements. In our respective fields, we have become accustomed to pivoting and adapting to ever-changing environments. Many of us are already adept at rapid response and, in that spirit, we would like to share some of our best practices for remote working teams.

  1. Establish your “war room.”  A dedicated space gives you the ability to focus and conduct meetings with your team and with stakeholders. Take breaks as you would in the office, and be sure to unplug at the end of the day.
  2. Lights, camera, action! Get dressed, make sure you are camera ready and wear the same clothes you would wear to your workplace.
  3. Secure and stable! Check your internet speed and wifi security settings to ensure that you have sufficient bandwidth and secure access to complete your daily tasks according to the needs of your organization and your various campaigns.

Read the full article about building movements in a time of pandemic by Ryan Eller at Medium.