Leadership During COVID-19

Dear Friends of Change,

We hope you’re doing okay in this challenging time. We’re thankful for everyone who’s going above and beyond to make the world a better place — whether they’re helping the sick, loading up supplies to keep us going, or pushing for a world that is more humane and scientific.

We know that you’re facing your own challenges, from fundraising and budgeting to striking the right tone in a rapidly changing situation. It’s not easy to lead in periods of uncertainty and pain; thank you for leading and persisting in this challenging time.

To help you and other organizations navigate this situation, here’s what we’re especially focused on right now:

• Keeping a pulse. We’re constantly measuring people’s attitudes and behaviors in response to COVID-19. We’ll soon be sharing some insights on people’s level of fear, the effect it’s having on their day to day lives, and the effect it’s having on their finances.
• Helping on public health. If we see something in our numbers that we believe will be helpful in preventing the spread or impacts of COVID-19, we’ll share it more broadly.
• Rapid response. Much of our work has always been from clients who need to understand public opinion right away, and that need for speed has only increased the past few weeks.
• Coronavirus and… Many organizations and individuals are focused on other policy areas. We’re doing a lot of work to figure out how best to talk about issues like climate change and reproductive rights that are pressing but less top of mind than they were last month.

The coronavirus has changed things drastically for all of us. We’ve seen it in our data — a week ago, 2% of Americans were home-bound, today it’s 40% — and in our own lives. It’s increased the urgency of some work and made other work seem less timely.

We feel fortunate to have a team that was already largely remote and a business that can run smoothly even if everyone is at home (and we totally get it when a Zoom meeting is interrupted by a three year old plopping down in Mommy or Daddy’s lap!). Still, we’re keenly aware of coming challenges both medical and economic, and grateful for our partnership with candidates and organizations finding ways to get us through this challenging time.

Thank you for your partnership and for all that you do. We wish you and your family health.

Mike Greenfield, Pat Reilly, and the Change Research Team