Blog

Response to Covid-19 Pandemic

March 24, 2020  |  coronavirus, COVID-19, National Recreation Foundation, pandemic, Sophie Twichell
SBT headshot
Sophie Twichell, NRF's Executive Director

Dear NRF Grantees,

As our world grapples with the unprecedented challenges presented by COVID-19, we want to express our deep concern and support for our grantees. Please know how grateful the National Recreation Foundation is for your ongoing work to provide essential services, tackle inequities and create communities where everyone is afforded the opportunity to thrive.

We can't imagine a more difficult time for the nation's nonprofit community. At a time when people need them the most, vital services are being disrupted, daily programs and operations altered, and budgets stretched by increased demands and cancelled events. All of this taking place in a context of enormous uncertainty.

As the situation continues to rapidly evolve, we are taking steps to protect and uphold our internal team, our partners and grantees.

Working Remote: Our staff is working from home until at least April 7. All work-related travel is suspended, and meetings are being conducted virtually. We are working our usual hours and can be reached most easily by email. Contact information can be found on Our Team page.

Foundation-Related Events: In close coordination with our grantees and partners, we are postponing or cancelling in-person events. For example, our spring grantee workshop, PURPOSEFUL BOARDS, POWERFUL FUNDRAISING, will no longer take place in New Orleans on May 28-29, but it has been rescheduled for September 17-18. We look forward to working collaboratively online in the weeks to come and at in-person events once this health threat has passed.

Flexibility for Our Grantees: Should COVID-19 disrupt your organization's ability to operate as planned, our staff are available to support you. Please reach to let us know your concerns and how we might need to adapt together. For some of our grantees, your ability to meet grant-related reporting requirements or objectives may be impacted. If you're concerned about this, please let us know so that we can work to adjust expectations as we face new challenges and work ahead. Please contact me (sophie@nationalrecreationfoundation.org) with any questions or concerns.

How Are You Coping? NRF hopes you'll complete this brief survey to share how you are coping with the coronavirus pandemic. What actions are you taking to provide services during the pandemic? What actions are you taking to keep kids safe, active and/or engaged with the outdoors while schools are closed and our lives are focused on social distancing and staying inside? Link to the survey here.

Monitoring the Situation with Our Peers: We are in communication with partners like Blue Sky Funders Forum, Exponent Philanthropy and Forefront, and will continue to monitor the situation for philanthropic responses to emerging community needs.

Resources for Our Community: We have compiled a short list of resources (see below) that may be helpful in navigating the current situation. We hope you find these useful. Feel free to share them with others in your network who might benefit from this information. And if you hear of any good ideas that we should be sharing through our networks, please let us know!

Wishing you health and safety,

Sophie Twichell
Executive Director 

 

RESOURCES

Remote Work Resource

Fundraising Resources


Connecting Kids with the Outdoors

10 Nature Activities to Help Get your Family Through the Coronavirus Pandemic 
A new blog post from our friends at the Children & Nature Network, who also shared these resources: 

Self-Care