Is your nonprofit organisation prepared to recover valuable company data if a flood hits your server room or if a hacker gains access to your confidential files? To confidently answer that question with a “yes,” you need a nonprofit disaster recovery plan.
In this article, ITConnexion shares a 5-step IT disaster recovery plan template with the elements every nonprofit should address.
Different Kinds of Disasters
First, it’s vital to delineate the different kinds of disasters your organisation may face. Your disaster recovery procedures should address how your organisation will recover from natural disasters, physical disasters and technology-based disasters.
Natural Disasters
Natural disasters include hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, wildfires, tsunamis, floods, and other events that could destroy your office or hinder operations.
Physical Disasters
A physical disaster usually stems from human error. For example, an employee loses their company device, or someone gains access to your hardware server room.
Technology-Based Disasters
Technology-based disasters involve cybersecurity threats and breaches. For example, a ransomware attack in which a hacker encrypts your data and holds it hostage is considered a technology-based disaster.
Preparing for a Disaster
Once you understand the types of disasters your organisation may face, you can prepare accordingly. While the nature of a disaster is unpredictable, your nonprofit disaster recovery plan should discuss measures you can implement to reduce the likelihood of a disaster and ensure your files are safe. This part of your disaster recovery plan should include:
- Regular tests with your IT services provider to identify vulnerabilities
- A central server location where data backups are stored
- Cybersecurity awareness training to teach employees how to safely navigate their devices and the network
- A consistent file storage system and database
- Antivirus software
- A strong password manager
Recovering from a Disaster
Even the most prepared organisations have to deal with disasters from elements that are out of their control. Next, you have to establish disaster recovery procedures to dictate how your organisation will recover data when disaster strikes. This part of your plan should include:
- How to restore data from backups
- Hardware recovery
- Employee safety tips
- How to recover communications and communication protocols if digital tools aren’t available
- Network recovery
External Communications
No matter how substantial the data loss is, your nonprofit organisation endures a disaster, it must communicate with its stakeholders. The consequences of your disaster could range from a minor stall in operations to your stakeholders’ data being exposed. In either case, part of your disaster recovery procedures should include how you plan to update your stakeholders during the crisis about what’s happening and, afterwards, about how you will improve.
Establish Your Nonprofit Disaster Recovery Plan in Melbourne
We hope this IT disaster recovery plan template answers your questions about what your plan should include. Now, you’re ready to move on to working with ITConnexion to test, establish and continually review your IT infrastructure. To set up a consultation and learn how to protect your organisation, call us on 1800 06 49 61.
