Nonprofit Preparedness: Planning for Continued Operations during Extreme Weather Events

Nonprofits in our region often provide for our communities’ basic needs and offer critical services to ensure we can thrive. The communities we serve especially rely on our continued operations during extreme weather events. Responding to the challenges presented by hurricanes and the COVID-19 pandemic, nonprofits learned crucial lessons. Most importantly, we learned nonprofit preparedness and planning are key to an organization’s ability to prevent, navigate, and then thrive beyond crises. As our environmental, technological, and social landscapes quickly evolve, nonprofit leaders and staff continue to face familiar operational challenges, such as those posed by storms and disasters, and newer challenges such as heat risk and flooding.

To support nonprofit preparedness and continued operations during storms and other weather-related events, the Greater New Orleans Foundation is offering a day-long workshop to help nonprofits plan for continuity of operations. This workshop will inform nonprofit leaders, staff, and stakeholders about persistent and emerging threats, specifically disaster threats and heat events, and assist them in preparing for continued operations during an extreme weather event.

This workshop is interactive and will feature:

• presentations on storm and heat risks;
• conversations with leaders on Continuity of Operations (COOP) plan planning and implementation;
• a tour of a Community Lighthouse; and
• opportunities to create or revamp your organization’s COOP plan.

By the end of this session, attendees will have:

• a better understanding, grounded in data and anecdotes, of the disaster and heat risks facing nonprofits and the communities we serve;
• learned about available trainings and resources that support nonprofit preparedness; and
• begun to design priority sections of their organizational Continuity of Operations (COOP) Plan.

While this workshop is free, registration is required. The session will be held in person on Thursday, June 12, 2025, from 9:00 am-3:30 pm. A light breakfast and lunch will be provided. Seating is limited. Click here to register.