Crisis events happen in every organization, from a building’s structural concern to a data breach to an employee who says something offensive online. How we handle those things in the moment is a different blog post. I want to focus on preparing for potential crisis events through proactive, cohesive messaging.

Not through tabletop exercises or crisis training.

I’m talking about preparing for the trust hit that comes from a crisis event in terms of reputation. No organization is perfect, and things happen. Each time one does, there is a level of reputation concern that the organization will feel. A building safety concern may leave people wondering whether all buildings are safe. A data breach could undermine the confidence that your stakeholders have placed in you. And an employee’s statements online might make students or other faculty feel less welcome, as they might see that employee as a representative of the entire staff.

Each time one of these events happens, your stakeholders make withdrawals from your trust account. Think of this account like a piggy bank. You always want your trust account to be in the positive, which means that regular deposits are required so you can sustain a crisis event.

What counts as those deposits? It’s not a sporadic social media post with a self-promotional pitch or only utilizing employee communication channels for the mandatory annual benefits update. The deposits happen as a result of a coordinated, strategic communications campaign that reinforces your unique positioning to your audiences —showing up consistently, in the right channels, with messages that resonate before people need them to.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

A social media post that reinforces your key messages? Clink.

An op-ed in a key publication? Clink.

Media interview with a regional or trade outlet? Clink.

Regular, meaningful communication with team members? Clink.

Something a lot of organizations overlook is the need for these tactics to occur at regular intervals, maintaining your messaging over time and not just when something prompts it. Sustained messaging means your audience hears from you before they need to, just like deposits go into a bank before you need to make an emergency withdrawal. It doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does need to be intentional.

So that when the unexpected happens, your trust bank is still full.