Hurricane Isaias:
If you were impacted by the storm, here's
key recovery considerations for the days and weeks ahead
Business continuity planning is the process of preparing your organization to maintain or restore critical functions when unexpected events disrupt normal operations.
A thoughtful business continuity plan can help organizations prepare for events such as natural disasters, pandemics, serious accidents and cyberattacks while working to minimize operational impacts.
Effective business continuity planning considers more than the event itself. It addresses the people, facilities, technology, finances, communications, vendors and other resources your organization depends on to carry out its mission.
A disruption can affect much more than your facilities. It can impact your people, technology, finances, essential services and ability to support the communities you serve.
A proactive approach to business continuity can help organizations:
Business continuity is an ongoing process. Plans should be reviewed and tested at least annually and whenever operations or the plan change significantly.
The Business Continuity Planning Toolkit is designed to support mission-driven organizations that want to strengthen their ability to prepare for and navigate operational disruptions.
This may include:
Whether your organization already has a detailed continuity plan or is just beginning the planning process, the toolkit provides a practical framework for evaluating preparedness and identifying next steps.
The toolkit combines foundational business continuity guidance with a structured self-assessment. Together, the resources can help organizations move from understanding key preparedness principles to evaluating how consistently they are putting them into practice.
The 10 Essentials of Business Continuity outlines foundational steps organizations can take to help build resilience and improve their ability to navigate unexpected or catastrophic events.
The guidance focuses on 10 areas:
These essentials can serve as either a starting point for developing a business continuity plan or a refresher for organizations reviewing existing plans.
Knowing what a strong continuity plan should include is only part of the process. Organizations also need to understand where their current preparedness efforts are strong and where gaps may remain.
The Business Continuity Planning Assessment provides a structured way to evaluate readiness across the following areas:
Organizations can rate individual preparedness practices based on whether they are completed consistently, need improvement or have not yet been implemented. The results can help identify strengths, highlight potential gaps and prioritize future improvements.
The toolkit is designed to support organizations at different stages of preparedness. You can use the resources to:
Consider starting with the 10 Essentials of Business Continuity to establish a foundation, then complete the Business Continuity Planning Assessment to see how your current practices compare and where additional attention may be needed.
Identify mission-critical responsibilities and determine who can perform them if key employees or volunteers are unavailable. Cross training can help ensure more than one person is prepared to carry out essential responsibilities during a disruption.
Determine how buildings and equipment will be protected and secured, what equipment is essential and where operations could continue if your primary location becomes unusable.
Identify the systems, records and information required to perform critical functions. The toolkit recommends backing up critical information and making it accessible to key staff even when power or internet connectivity is compromised.
Define how your organization will communicate with employees, volunteers, vendors, customers and response agencies. Keep contact information up to date and identify who will oversee communications if a disruption occurs.
Consider how your organization would continue meeting obligations such as payroll and other expenses if normal operations or access to financial systems were disrupted. The toolkit also recommends establishing an emergency reserve fund.
Identify the third parties your organization depends on for critical functions and consider alternate or backup suppliers. Avoiding reliance on suppliers in a single geographic area may also help strengthen continuity.
Review and test your plan at least annually and when significant changes occur. Testing can uncover gaps in skills, systems or resources and give key people an opportunity to practice their responsibilities before an actual disruption.
A business continuity plan documents how an organization intends to maintain or restore critical operations during and after a disruption. It can address areas such as critical functions, staffing, facilities, technology, communications, finances, suppliers and recovery.
Potential disruptions vary by organization and location. The toolkit identifies examples including severe weather, natural disasters, pandemics, civil unrest, equipment failure, utility disruption, serious accidents and cyberattacks.
The Business Continuity Planning Toolkit recommends reviewing and testing the plan at least annually and whenever there are changes to operations or significant changes to the plan.
While every organization is different, planning should consider areas such as risk identification, critical operations, facilities, staffing, financial needs, technology and data, communications, suppliers and vendors, plan testing and recovery.
Testing can help organizations identify gaps in skills, systems and resources before an actual disruption. Scenario-based exercises can also give key people an opportunity to practice their responsibilities and identify improvements to the plan.
Business continuity planning isn't a one-time effort. As operations, technology, staffing and community needs change, continuity plans should evolve with them.
Use the resources in the Business Continuity Planning Toolkit to evaluate your current readiness, identify potential gaps and prioritize improvements. Regularly reviewing and testing your plan can help prepare your organization to protect its people, preserve critical operations and continue supporting its mission when the unexpected happens.
Help your organization prepare for disruptions, maintain critical operations and strengthen resilience.
Unexpected disruptions can affect any organization. Severe weather, natural disasters, cyberattacks, equipment failures, utility disruptions, pandemics and other events can interrupt operations with little warning. Having a plan in place can help your organization respond more effectively and continue its most important work.
The Business Continuity Planning Toolkit brings together practical resources to help mission-driven organizations identify potential risks, evaluate their readiness and strengthen plans for maintaining critical operations during a disruption. Whether you're developing a business continuity plan for the first time or reviewing an existing plan, these resources can help you identify gaps and prioritize improvements.
Business continuity planning is the process of preparing your organization to maintain or restore critical functions when unexpected events disrupt normal operations.
A thoughtful business continuity plan can help organizations prepare for events such as natural disasters, pandemics, serious accidents and cyberattacks while working to minimize operational impacts.
Effective business continuity planning considers more than the event itself. It addresses the people, facilities, technology, finances, communications, vendors and other resources your organization depends on to carry out its mission.
A disruption can affect much more than your facilities. It can impact your people, technology, finances, essential services and ability to support the communities you serve.
A proactive approach to business continuity can help organizations:
Business continuity is an ongoing process. Plans should be reviewed and tested at least annually and whenever operations or the plan change significantly.
The Business Continuity Planning Toolkit is designed to support mission-driven organizations that want to strengthen their ability to prepare for and navigate operational disruptions.
This may include:
Whether your organization already has a detailed continuity plan or is just beginning the planning process, the toolkit provides a practical framework for evaluating preparedness and identifying next steps.
The toolkit combines foundational business continuity guidance with a structured self-assessment. Together, the resources can help organizations move from understanding key preparedness principles to evaluating how consistently they are putting them into practice.
The 10 Essentials of Business Continuity outlines foundational steps organizations can take to help build resilience and improve their ability to navigate unexpected or catastrophic events.
The guidance focuses on 10 areas:
These essentials can serve as either a starting point for developing a business continuity plan or a refresher for organizations reviewing existing plans.
Knowing what a strong continuity plan should include is only part of the process. Organizations also need to understand where their current preparedness efforts are strong and where gaps may remain.
The Business Continuity Planning Assessment provides a structured way to evaluate readiness across the following areas:
Organizations can rate individual preparedness practices based on whether they are completed consistently, need improvement or have not yet been implemented. The results can help identify strengths, highlight potential gaps and prioritize future improvements.
The toolkit is designed to support organizations at different stages of preparedness. You can use the resources to:
Consider starting with the 10 Essentials of Business Continuity to establish a foundation, then complete the Business Continuity Planning Assessment to see how your current practices compare and where additional attention may be needed.
Identify mission-critical responsibilities and determine who can perform them if key employees or volunteers are unavailable. Cross training can help ensure more than one person is prepared to carry out essential responsibilities during a disruption.
Determine how buildings and equipment will be protected and secured, what equipment is essential and where operations could continue if your primary location becomes unusable.
Identify the systems, records and information required to perform critical functions. The toolkit recommends backing up critical information and making it accessible to key staff even when power or internet connectivity is compromised.
Define how your organization will communicate with employees, volunteers, vendors, customers and response agencies. Keep contact information up to date and identify who will oversee communications if a disruption occurs.
Consider how your organization would continue meeting obligations such as payroll and other expenses if normal operations or access to financial systems were disrupted. The toolkit also recommends establishing an emergency reserve fund.
Identify the third parties your organization depends on for critical functions and consider alternate or backup suppliers. Avoiding reliance on suppliers in a single geographic area may also help strengthen continuity.
Review and test your plan at least annually and when significant changes occur. Testing can uncover gaps in skills, systems or resources and give key people an opportunity to practice their responsibilities before an actual disruption.
A business continuity plan documents how an organization intends to maintain or restore critical operations during and after a disruption. It can address areas such as critical functions, staffing, facilities, technology, communications, finances, suppliers and recovery.
Potential disruptions vary by organization and location. The toolkit identifies examples including severe weather, natural disasters, pandemics, civil unrest, equipment failure, utility disruption, serious accidents and cyberattacks.
The Business Continuity Planning Toolkit recommends reviewing and testing the plan at least annually and whenever there are changes to operations or significant changes to the plan.
While every organization is different, planning should consider areas such as risk identification, critical operations, facilities, staffing, financial needs, technology and data, communications, suppliers and vendors, plan testing and recovery.
Testing can help organizations identify gaps in skills, systems and resources before an actual disruption. Scenario-based exercises can also give key people an opportunity to practice their responsibilities and identify improvements to the plan.
Business continuity planning isn't a one-time effort. As operations, technology, staffing and community needs change, continuity plans should evolve with them.
Use the resources in the Business Continuity Planning Toolkit to evaluate your current readiness, identify potential gaps and prioritize improvements. Regularly reviewing and testing your plan can help prepare your organization to protect its people, preserve critical operations and continue supporting its mission when the unexpected happens.
Help your organization prepare for disruptions, maintain critical operations and strengthen resilience.
Unexpected disruptions can affect any organization. Severe weather, natural disasters, cyberattacks, equipment failures, utility disruptions, pandemics and other events can interrupt operations with little warning. Having a plan in place can help your organization respond more effectively and continue its most important work.
The Business Continuity Planning Toolkit brings together practical resources to help mission-driven organizations identify potential risks, evaluate their readiness and strengthen plans for maintaining critical operations during a disruption. Whether you're developing a business continuity plan for the first time or reviewing an existing plan, these resources can help you identify gaps and prioritize improvements.
Help your organization prepare for disruptions, maintain critical operations and strengthen resilience.
Unexpected disruptions can affect any organization. Severe weather, natural disasters, cyberattacks, equipment failures, utility disruptions, pandemics and other events can interrupt operations with little warning. Having a plan in place can help your organization respond more effectively and continue its most important work.
The Business Continuity Planning Toolkit brings together practical resources to help mission-driven organizations identify potential risks, evaluate their readiness and strengthen plans for maintaining critical operations during a disruption. Whether you're developing a business continuity plan for the first time or reviewing an existing plan, these resources can help you identify gaps and prioritize improvements.
Business continuity planning is the process of preparing your organization to maintain or restore critical functions when unexpected events disrupt normal operations.
A thoughtful business continuity plan can help organizations prepare for events such as natural disasters, pandemics, serious accidents and cyberattacks while working to minimize operational impacts.
Effective business continuity planning considers more than the event itself. It addresses the people, facilities, technology, finances, communications, vendors and other resources your organization depends on to carry out its mission.
A disruption can affect much more than your facilities. It can impact your people, technology, finances, essential services and ability to support the communities you serve.
A proactive approach to business continuity can help organizations:
Business continuity is an ongoing process. Plans should be reviewed and tested at least annually and whenever operations or the plan change significantly.
The Business Continuity Planning Toolkit is designed to support mission-driven organizations that want to strengthen their ability to prepare for and navigate operational disruptions.
This may include:
Whether your organization already has a detailed continuity plan or is just beginning the planning process, the toolkit provides a practical framework for evaluating preparedness and identifying next steps.
The toolkit combines foundational business continuity guidance with a structured self-assessment. Together, the resources can help organizations move from understanding key preparedness principles to evaluating how consistently they are putting them into practice.
The 10 Essentials of Business Continuity outlines foundational steps organizations can take to help build resilience and improve their ability to navigate unexpected or catastrophic events.
The guidance focuses on 10 areas:
These essentials can serve as either a starting point for developing a business continuity plan or a refresher for organizations reviewing existing plans.
Knowing what a strong continuity plan should include is only part of the process. Organizations also need to understand where their current preparedness efforts are strong and where gaps may remain.
The Business Continuity Planning Assessment provides a structured way to evaluate readiness across the following areas:
Organizations can rate individual preparedness practices based on whether they are completed consistently, need improvement or have not yet been implemented. The results can help identify strengths, highlight potential gaps and prioritize future improvements.
The toolkit is designed to support organizations at different stages of preparedness. You can use the resources to:
Consider starting with the 10 Essentials of Business Continuity to establish a foundation, then complete the Business Continuity Planning Assessment to see how your current practices compare and where additional attention may be needed.
Identify mission-critical responsibilities and determine who can perform them if key employees or volunteers are unavailable. Cross training can help ensure more than one person is prepared to carry out essential responsibilities during a disruption.
Determine how buildings and equipment will be protected and secured, what equipment is essential and where operations could continue if your primary location becomes unusable.
Identify the systems, records and information required to perform critical functions. The toolkit recommends backing up critical information and making it accessible to key staff even when power or internet connectivity is compromised.
Define how your organization will communicate with employees, volunteers, vendors, customers and response agencies. Keep contact information up to date and identify who will oversee communications if a disruption occurs.
Consider how your organization would continue meeting obligations such as payroll and other expenses if normal operations or access to financial systems were disrupted. The toolkit also recommends establishing an emergency reserve fund.
Identify the third parties your organization depends on for critical functions and consider alternate or backup suppliers. Avoiding reliance on suppliers in a single geographic area may also help strengthen continuity.
Review and test your plan at least annually and when significant changes occur. Testing can uncover gaps in skills, systems or resources and give key people an opportunity to practice their responsibilities before an actual disruption.
A business continuity plan documents how an organization intends to maintain or restore critical operations during and after a disruption. It can address areas such as critical functions, staffing, facilities, technology, communications, finances, suppliers and recovery.
Potential disruptions vary by organization and location. The toolkit identifies examples including severe weather, natural disasters, pandemics, civil unrest, equipment failure, utility disruption, serious accidents and cyberattacks.
The Business Continuity Planning Toolkit recommends reviewing and testing the plan at least annually and whenever there are changes to operations or significant changes to the plan.
While every organization is different, planning should consider areas such as risk identification, critical operations, facilities, staffing, financial needs, technology and data, communications, suppliers and vendors, plan testing and recovery.
Testing can help organizations identify gaps in skills, systems and resources before an actual disruption. Scenario-based exercises can also give key people an opportunity to practice their responsibilities and identify improvements to the plan.
Business continuity planning isn't a one-time effort. As operations, technology, staffing and community needs change, continuity plans should evolve with them.
Use the resources in the Business Continuity Planning Toolkit to evaluate your current readiness, identify potential gaps and prioritize improvements. Regularly reviewing and testing your plan can help prepare your organization to protect its people, preserve critical operations and continue supporting its mission when the unexpected happens.
