In light of the recent attack on an elementary school out east it struck me just how disruptive those events are for a community. It got me thinking of the staff of the school trying to communicate with the families and share important dates, times, and information with the broader community. One of the hardest pieces would be the hindered communication and access to data for the administrators. After events like that of last week, and natural disasters like hurricane sandy there is no access to the office, or any of the files/records stored there.

This is not a post trying to sell you on some software, but to encourage you to ensure that your data is accessible whenever/wherever you may need to access it. There are many solutions that are web-based like Fresh Vine that manage membership and communications, as well as other backup services that you can use to ensure that you always have access to your latest contact information for your congregation (dropbox, crashplan, google drive, and others). If you do not already have a system in place to ensure that all of your mission critical data is backed up off site please take some time this week to do so.

One of the most important things any community can do in times of distress is communicate clearly and directly with their members.

Please take sometime to ensure your community is prepared. It shouldn’t take more then 30 minutes to setup.

Photo Credit: Ty Nigh