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MI Nonprofit News

Special Edition
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update | March 13, 2020        

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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT 
 
Dear friends and colleagues:

During this rapidly changing and uncertain time, MNA is committed to helping our members answer important questions like: What should your nonprofit be doing differently during the Coronavirus outbreak? How can you create or update a plan that impacts your staff, operations, and mission? How is the community you serve being impacted?
 
As with any rapidly evolving situation, there is a lot of information about the coronavirus outbreak in the media — some accurate and valuable, some not. This special edition of the MI NP News aims to share resources that have been vetted and can be trusted. 
 
Racism and stigmatization have increased, particularly towards the Asian population. We need to emphasize that the virus is the threat, not the person who is infected, and we should continue to advocate on behalf of vulnerable populations.

MNA is also collecting information to help us understand the challenges facing nonprofits by the outbreak. This data will help us be more responsive as we support your work during these uncertain times. Please answer the quick 3-question survey here.

Along with the Council of Michigan Foundations and the Michigan Association of United Ways, we are working with philanthropy and our government partners on policies to alleviate the financial burden on the sector – in the short-term and for the future.
 
We will continue to monitor new developments so that we can continue to serve you. We are grateful for the good work you are all doing, especially those of you on the front lines serving our kids, seniors, and people who are ill.
 
Thank you for all you do and continue to do for communities. My virtual door is open to you so please don’t hesitate to contact me directly at dmurray-brown@mnaonline.org.
 
Please take care of yourselves and each other.


Donna Murray-Brown
President and CEO

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The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and the health departments in Ingham, Kent, Montcalm, Oakland, St. Clair and Washtenaw counties announced today 10 adults tested presumptive positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This brings the state total of COVID-19 cases to 12.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced that in order to slow the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19), she is ordering the closure of all K-12 school buildings, public, private, and boarding, to students starting Monday, March 16 until Sunday, April 5. School buildings are scheduled to reopen on Monday, April 6.

The best prevention for viruses, such as influenza, the common cold or COVID-19 is still to: 
  • Wash your hands often with soap and warm water for 20 seconds. If not available, use hand sanitizer.   
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands.   
  • Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or upper sleeve when coughing or sneezing.   
  • Avoid contact with people who are sick.   
  • If you are sick, stay home, and avoid contact with others. 
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WHAT MNA IS DOING

We are taking sensible steps to help protect our staff. This means fewer in-person meetings, limiting travel and making it easier for people to take the time they need to care for themselves and their families.  We have identified employees for remote work based on their ability to perform their duties by phone or computer. We have moved routine workflow to online systems wherever possible. That means most in-person meetings have been replaced with virtual meetings and conference calls. We are also using communications platforms such as Go-to-meeting, Slack and Trello. 

MNA is also working with our national and statewide partners to urge Congress to include nonprofits in tax and other relief targeted to small businesses.  View letter here.

MNA has co-signed a letter with the Council of Michigan Foundations, the Michigan Association of United Ways and the Michigan Community Service Commission urging foundations to be flexible with grant commitments, to provide unrestricted funding to support nonprofits dealing with increased capacity needs resulting from fundraising events cancellations. 


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HELPFUL LINKS & RESOURCES

State of Michigan Information
Federal Government Information MNA Tech Resources – To learn more about MNA’s IT services, contact MNA Tech at helpdesk@mnaonline.org.
  • How to Clean Your Technology Properly (March 4), WIRED
  • For remotely accessing your computer at the office, there are several options. Here are a couple free and low cost choices:
    • Chrome Remote Desktop – This one is free, but takes some time and navigation to get working properly.
    • Splashtop.com – Not a free option, but lower cost than most of the commercial remote desktop options out there. It requires you to setup an account and install and app on both computers you are working on – i.e. work computer and home computer
  • If you need access to files stored on your computer, then moving them to a cloud based file storage app would work out great. Options here include:
    • Google Drive – If you have GSuite for email, you already have Google Drive – Once you download and install it, just copy files over. Once they sync, you can access your files from any other computer.
    • OneDrive – If you have Microsoft Office 365 for email, each person on your staff has a OneDrive account that they can log into and store files in. Once files are synced online, they are accessible anywhere.
    • Dropbox – There is a free version of Dropbox that works pretty well. If you work with multiple people, you can quickly setup a free Dropbox account and share the login with staff who can log in and install the app on their computers.

HR Resources Event Cancellation/Rescheduling Examples
  • PEAK 2020 (March 9-11, 2020), PEAK Grantmaking
  • AFP ICON 2020, (March 29-31, 2020), Association of Fundraising Professionals
     
Working Remotely Free Tools
As many nonprofits adapt to remote working, MNA Tech is sharing some recommended free tools to stay connected:
Civil Liberty Considerations
 

Get connected to MNA!

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www.mnaonline.org




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