COVID-19 Update
MARCH 19, 2020
Distribution: All SCORE Acting and Provisional Volunteers
SCORE Headquarters staff are committed to providing you the best service we can as we continue to manage the impact of COVID-19. We intend to send weekly updates to support you and your clients as much as possible. Thank you for going above and beyond during this time to do your best to deliver SCORE's mission. We are here to answer any questions you may have.
A Message from SBA about National Small Business Week
National Small Business Week is still many weeks away, but to protect you, your community, and our country, we have decided that the best course of action is to delay the event until later in the year. The Washington, D.C., awards ceremony which is scheduled for May 3-4 will be postponed until late summer/early fall.
 
Please know that we are so thankful for the work and contributions each of you makes day in and out to support America. National Small Business Week is an opportunity to showcase your efforts and to say thank you, but even if we will need to wait to make our public declaration, let us say now…Thank you! You are a critical pillar of the American economy and the American way of life. We are proud of you and appreciate you.
 
Know that the U.S. Small Business Administration is working for you during these difficult times. Please visit our website to learn more about small business guidance and loan resources .
 
Over the next few months, we will continue to share information about our National Small Business Week plans, particularly as a new date is finalized. While we may not reach out in the next few weeks as we focus our efforts on battling the effects of COVID-19, we are available to answer your questions and listen to your concerns. Please feel free to contact your SBA District Office or Morning Washburn, our Director of Strategic Alliances ( morning.washburn@sba.gov , 202-815-3726).
How to Help Your Clients

SBA Loan Information - We know your clients are asking about how the SBA disaster loans will work. The SBA is sharing information for this process on a regional basis. We are working with the SBA Headquarters to find out more about the process and the regional webinar schedule and will share out with you as soon as we can. However, if you hear from your SBA District Office directly about a local SBA webinar, you are encouraged to join.

SCORE’s role with these loans is to understand where a client needs to go to apply for the loan if it benefits them, and help them understand how best to use this money to sustain their business.

Click here for an EXAMPLE from the New England region of what you may be able to expect from your local SBA webinar. 

SCORE COVID-19 Toolkits - SCORE HQ has made toolkits available on the Support Center of resources to support your clients and volunteers. These toolkits will continue to be updated as new resources are created. They will be linked to the bottom of each weekly email. All SCORE COVID-19 Resources can be viewed here .

The SCORE COVID-19 Resources for Clients Toolkit currently includes:

Call for Subject Matter Experts
We are developing new resources to help small businesses understand how to operate through this pandemic. We are looking for subject matter experts that are willing to work with the marketing team to create new content (webinars, templates, blogs, etc.).

If you’re interested in helping us develop new resources, please email marketing@score.org and share the following:
  • Name
  • Email Address
  • Chapter Name and Number
  • Industry Expertise: Which industries do you know best? Share how long you’ve worked in the industry.
  • Business Topic Expertise: In which 1-3 business topics can you provide advice? Only include those topics in which you have significant expertise and would feel comfortable presenting a webinar to a national audience or providing 1-on-1 mentoring. 
Tech Tips for Volunteers

Here is some information on how you can use technology to continue to best serve our clients as SCORE volunteers:
  1. For mentoring, Zoom and all technology services including phone, text and email are valid ways to stay in touch and meet with your clients. For assistance with how to do that, click here.
  2. For client-facing workshops, we are temporarily waiving the SOM requirement that "All workshops must be conducted live and in person." All of the other requirements for workshops that are listed in the SOM must still be adhered to.
  3. For all group events, workshops and client meetings, Zoom is available for your use. For a list of Zoom resources, click here.
  4. If you have not done so already, please set up your Bill.com for ACH payments from SCORE. All financial institutions are asking to limit activity at branches and ATMs. Moving to an ACH payment will help limit interactions with the bank. Click here for how to do that.
  5. We understand that prospective volunteers may be impacted by this new policy. We will extend the onboarding to 120 days. If your volunteer is impacted, please let volunteer.services@score.org know, and we will work together to find a solution.

This information and more is available in our COVID-19 Toolkit for Volunteers .

Hosting a SCORE Virtual Workshop
On Monday March 16, SCORE HQ hosted a webinar to walk chapters through the process of setting up, managing, hosting and recording a SCORE workshop virtually, using the Webinar feature in Zoom.  View these resources here.
Chapter Operational Assistance

We appreciate all your efforts to quickly transition your chapter workshops to online events, postpone or cancel.

Please  document  every event you are cancelling with projected number of attendees and revenue. Use this document template here  and share it back with accounting@score.org . We will use this to track and share with Congress and SBA as we work to make sure SCORE chapters have the funds they need to operate through the COVID-19 time period.

If you need to  refund  attendees: 
1.  Here  are the instructions on refunds using PayPal 
2. If the funds were collected by another method other than the National PayPal account, please complete the  attached form  and email it to  accounting@score.org . We will issue refund checks as quickly as possible. 

If you are working to cancel venue contracts, please see our legal guidance below of what steps to take.

Chapters should take immediate action to inform their vendors, cancel everything that’s scheduled through the end of April, and warn the vendors that it might last longer. We suggest:

  • Every chapter should contact the vendors by phone if possible, with email follow-up messages to confirm whatever they were told on the phone.
  • Use the gentle approach first – tell the vendor that all chapters have been instructed to cancel all in-person events until further notice.
  • Ask for a full refund and a full waiver of any cancellation fee in every case except for a recurring venue / regular vendor, where chapters might consider allowing the vendor to hold the deposit so long as SCORE gets full credit when it is able to reschedule the event.
  • If there is any doubt that the chapter would use the same vendor after the quarantine ends, just ask for the refund.
  • If the vendor is insisting on imposing a cancellation fee…
  • If getting a full refund is a problem, the chapter should send the contract and the refusal email to accounting@score.org.
  • If the vendor is stalling or unreachable for more than one week, the chapter should put its refund demand in writing, keep a copy, and forward it accounting@score.org.


Resources for Clients

These webinars and other helpful resources can be shared with your clients who are seeking guidance on how to prepare and recover from disasters.
Volunteer Toolkit

These resources provide the latest communications and notifications around SCORE’s policy and guidance during this trying time.
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