Keeping Your Nonprofit Running Through Wildfire Season and Power Shutoffs
North Bay organizations need a continuity plan. The community counts on you most when conditions are worst.
· 4 min read
Evacuations, smoke days, and Public Safety Power Shutoffs are part of life in Marin, Sonoma, and Napa counties. For nonprofits that serve vulnerable communities, a technology outage during an emergency is more than an inconvenience.
Move critical systems to the cloud
If your files, email, and donor database live on a server in your office, a power shutoff takes them offline. Cloud-based systems let staff keep working from anywhere with a connection.
Build a simple continuity kit
- Laptops instead of desktops for key staff
- Mobile hotspots for internet backup
- Battery backup for any equipment that must stay on
- An off-site, tested backup of everything
- A printed contact list and a one-page plan
Practice before you need it
Run a short tabletop exercise each spring: if the office were unreachable tomorrow, could everyone work? The gaps you find are your to-do list before fire season.
This article is general information about IT and security practices, not legal advice.
