In these times, leaders and organizations focused on racial and social justice are constantly confronted with urgent moments that demand swift and impactful communication. From executive orders and federal actions to breaking news stories, harmful court decisions, and *gestures broadly* everything else, these moments require us to be prepared for rapid response.

But what does rapid response really mean besides some jargony comms speak? Here’s what it doesn’t mean – reacting quickly. What rapid response is really about is using these moments as part of our overall communications and narrative strategy to weigh in strategically. With adequate preparation, we can weigh in with intention and with an eye toward protecting our personal sanity and organizational strategy. Below, we break down the essence of rapid response and how organizations can approach these moments effectively.

Rapid Response vs. Crisis Communications

First and foremost, rapid response is not crisis communications. In my experience, folks use these phrases interchangeably, which leads to confusion and misalignment. While both require urgency, they are fundamentally different. As my colleague Rebecca Farmer, Vice President of our Media Relations team, simply puts it: Crisis is something that happens to you. Rapid response is something that happens around you.

Rapid response involves seizing unexpected opportunities or addressing urgent situations to elevate your organization’s mission or key issues. For example, we can employ rapid response to express solidarity or reframe the debate. It’s about stepping into the conversations already happening around you to educate, advocate, and champion solutions.

In contrast, crisis communications come into play when you as a leader or your organization are directly impacted. Crisis arises when reputation or operations are at stake. (Hello, Astronomer). This could involve scandals (say, your CEO being caught on a kiss cam at a Coldplay concert), financial mismanagement, or significant internal changes. And in this political reality as well as in our work overall, crises can also take the form of direct targeting of your organization, such as reputational attacks or funding cuts. While crisis communications focuses on defense and risk management, rapid response can be proactive and opportunity-driven.

Communications and Narrative Opportunities in Rapid Response

Rapid response moments can serve as powerful tools for both strategic communications and broader narrative change. 

For example, we often work with organizations focused on electoral power-building to prepare rapid response plans for election results, anticipating all possible scenarios, drafting aligned statements, and planning dissemination strategies across channels. 

As another example, a client working on community safety uses rapid response moments to shift narratives away from punishment and incarceration, instead pointing to solutions rooted in healing and preventing harm. These examples highlight how rapid response, when well-planned, can amplify an organization’s mission while ensuring its messaging remains consistent and strategic.

Shifting from strategic communications to narrative change, Pop Culture Collaborative describes some rapid response opportunities as the following: 

• “Big sky” moments – cultural moments when “the majority of people in a community or society are all looking up at the same narrative sky”  
• Or “portal moments”  – unplanned but cataclysmic events that destabilize old societal norms and open the public imagination to new possibilities for how we live and organize 

An important example here is how organizers and leaders responded in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, where mass public attention and outrage created space to go beyond solidarity statements and push for policy changes, philanthropic commitments, and narrative shifts addressing police violence and broader racial injustice.

Preparing for the Unpredictable

While we can’t predict every rapid response moment, we can prepare for them. Proactive preparation involves:

• Anticipating potential scenarios and outcomes
• Making collective decisions about which issues to weigh in on
• Developing a framework for strategic, timely responses and the appropriate messengers
• Identifying your existing, values-based messages that align with your strategic goals, and adapting them to the moment rather than starting from scratch

By taking these steps, organizations can avoid being reactive and instead respond from a proactive, prepared position. In the next blog, we’ll expand even more on actionable steps to create a rapid response strategy for your organization.

NOTE: In a new blog series, Change Consulting will dig deep into rapid response, crisis communications, misinformation and disinformation – offering definitions and actionable steps organizations and leaders can take to navigate these highly charged moments for strategic communications and narrative power building. The first blog in the series focuses on rapid response. Email us at hello@change-llc.com with your questions and to let us know what you want to learn more about when it comes to these topics.