A cat is hit by a car. A man takes care about it and asks for financial help. More than 6 thousand PLN is sent to a bank account. But there is neither this cat nor the car.
This story was created by charwoman of Kocia Dolina – the foundation which helps cats . And now the foundation is at a crisis situation. Unfortunately, it makes a mistake one after another one, so let’s learn on its mistakes in case…
1. A statement about the truth was released by the chairwoman on Facebook. It opened a vivid discussion which soon was deleted.
What to do in such situation? Decide who will inform, discuss and contact media regarding the issue. Contact first of all people who were directly cheated. Think million times if Facebook is the right place to introduce such a statement.
2. Media informs.
I doubt if any press release was sent to media by the board of the foundation.
So take such a crisis under your control. Manage information. Organize a press meeting. Take advantage from the fact that you are in the centre of interest. The story of the charwoman is moving and she does it because of love… It could be a beginning of a talk about problems in the foundation. This crisis could have been a winning situation for it.
3. Management. There is no person responsible for information, but a new board is chosen.
The crucial goal is to show that the foundation can manage finance. So transparency is a must. It is very important to prove that it has been just an incident.
4. Trust. Less and less. Personally, I do not trust the foundation not because of the cat and the car story, but because of not professional actions taken after the chairwoman’s statement.