The COVID-19 pandemic has created several challenges for all organizations. However, Nonprofit
Organizations (NPOs), due to their unique specificities, when compared to other types of organizations,
face unique challenges. These are extremely vulnerable during crisis, although the literature suggests that
it is not known to what extent these organizations are prepared to deal with crises and have proper crisis
management and planning strategies. Given this literature gap, this research aims to better understand the
crisis in Portuguese NPOs, through the research question: What is the impact of a crisis like COVID-19 on
NPOs’ perceptions of crisis management and planning? A mixed method is used, including document
analysis, qualitative interviews, and a quantitative methodology through a questionnaire survey. Study 1
provides an explanation on why Portuguese NPOs had no planning and were unprepared to cope with
COVID-19. Study 2, in a larger sample, diagnoses and suggests an insufficient level of planning and
preparedness, as main finding, substantiated by the lack of planning activities, teams, infrastructures, and
communication practices. The findings of each study, implications, and avenues for future research are
addressed.
