Crisis Communication Plan: Free Template + Examples

A crisis communication plan is a written playbook that says who speaks, who approves, who hears first and what gets said when something goes wrong. This page gives you a free template you can copy: roles, severity levels, an audience map, an approval flow, a first-hour checklist and ready-to-edit messages. Fill the brackets, then have counsel review it.

Treat it as a starting point, not a finished document. Every bracket is a decision only your organization can make, and every sample below is a hypothetical template, not a statement from a real company. We are not a law firm and nothing here is legal advice. Where a line touches admission, liability, privacy or a regulated industry, it carries a note to have counsel review it.

If you would rather not draft it alone, a crisis communications firm can write the statements and also work on the content itself, such as search results, reviews and AI answers. The template is yours to use either way.

What goes in a crisis communication plan

The plan answers six questions before anything goes wrong: who is on the team, how serious this is, who needs to hear what, who approves it, where it is posted, and what you learn afterward. Ready.gov says business preparedness planning should cover communications planning, that the need to communicate is immediate when an emergency occurs, and that a plan written in advance lets leaders respond to those needs promptly.

This plan covers reputation and communication events: a damaging news story, a viral post, a review attack, an allegation against an executive, a data incident, a product problem or a lawsuit. It does not replace your safety, continuity or legal response. For the whole-organization version, see our crisis management plan guide, and for definitions see what is crisis communication. If health communication is your field, the CDC's Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication program publishes a manual with an evidence-based framework for anyone communicating on behalf of an organization responding to a public health emergency.

Start by filling in the header block, then work through the steps in order.

Organization: [NAME]. Plan owner: [NAME AND TITLE]. Outside counsel: [NAME AND PHONE]. Last reviewed: [DATE]. Next review: [DATE]. Where this plan is stored: [LOCATION, WITH AN OFFLINE COPY].

Step 1: Name the crisis team

Write real names and mobile numbers, and a backup for every role. A role with no backup is a gap.

• Crisis lead

  Responsibility

  Declares a crisis, sets the level, owns decisions and keeps the clock

  Backup

  [Deputy lead]

• Spokesperson

  Responsibility

  The only voice to media and the public, rehearsed in advance

  Backup

  [Second spokesperson]

• Communications writer

  Responsibility

  Drafts statements, Q and A and updates from the templates

  Backup

  [Second writer]

• Legal counsel

  Responsibility

  Reviews anything touching admission, liability, privacy or regulation before release

  Backup

  [Outside counsel]

• Operations or subject lead

  Responsibility

  Supplies verified facts about what happened and what is being done

  Backup

  [Deputy]

• HR and internal lead

  Responsibility

  Informs employees first and handles staff questions

  Backup

  [HR deputy]

• Customer lead

  Responsibility

  Handles customer, partner and support messages

  Backup

  [Support manager]

• Social and monitoring lead

  Responsibility

  Watches channels, posts approved updates and logs every mention

  Backup

  [Second monitor]

Step 2: Set crisis levels

Decide severity in advance so nobody argues about it at midnight. These triggers are generic, so adapt them to your organization. If anyone is in danger, contact emergency services first and treat communications as second.

• Level 1: Watch

  Typical trigger

  One negative post, review or inquiry that is not spreading

  Who is involved

  Monitoring lead, writer

  Default response

  Monitor, log, prepare a draft, no public statement

• Level 2: Active

  Typical trigger

  Coverage by a news outlet, a fast-growing post, or questions from customers or staff

  Who is involved

  Core team

  Default response

  Activate the team, brief staff, approve a short public statement

• Level 3: Severe

  Typical trigger

  A serious allegation, safety or legal exposure, regulator contact or sustained wide coverage

  Who is involved

  Full team, counsel and executives

  Default response

  Crisis lead runs it, counsel approves every statement, updates on a set schedule

Move up a level whenever the facts or the reach change. Moving down needs the crisis lead's sign-off.

Step 3: Map your audiences

List who needs to hear what, in what order. Ready.gov names customers, regulators and local government officials, and employees and their families as audiences to plan for. Add the ones that matter to you.

• Employees

  What they need to know

  What happened, what to say and not say, where to send questions

  Channel

  Email, team chat, meeting

  Owner

  HR and internal lead

• Customers

  What they need to know

  How they are affected and what to do next

  Channel

  Email, website, support replies

  Owner

  Customer lead

• Media

  What they need to know

  The facts you can confirm and who to contact

  Channel

  Statement and spokesperson

  Owner

  Spokesperson

• Regulators and officials

  What they need to know

  Required notices, on their timelines

  Channel

  Counsel-led notice

  Owner

  Legal counsel

• Partners and suppliers

  What they need to know

  Any effect on shared work

  Channel

  Direct call or email

  Owner

  Operations lead

• Board, owners, investors

  What they need to know

  The facts, the response and the next update

  Channel

  Direct briefing

  Owner

  Crisis lead

Step 4: Set the approval and sign-off flow

Speed comes from deciding in advance who approves what. A simple flow:

1. The writer drafts from the templates, using only facts the operations lead has confirmed.

2. The crisis lead reviews for accuracy and tone.

3. Counsel reviews. Have counsel review every line about cause, fault, responsibility, compensation, personal information and any regulated-industry topic, such as healthcare, finance or education.

4. The crisis lead gives final sign-off and names who posts.

5. The spokesperson and front-line staff receive the final text before it goes out, so nobody improvises.

Name a backup approver in case the lead is unreachable, and keep a log of each version, who approved it and when.

Step 5: The first-hour checklist

These are steps in order, not timing promises. Move as fast as accurate facts allow. A short true statement beats a fast wrong one.

• 1

  Action

  Make sure no one is at risk. If anyone is, contact emergency services first

  Owner

  Crisis lead

• 2

  Action

  Set the crisis level and open an incident log

  Owner

  Crisis lead

• 3

  Action

  Confirm what is known and mark everything else as unknown

  Owner

  Operations lead

• 4

  Action

  Alert counsel and the team from the contact list

  Owner

  Crisis lead

• 5

  Action

  Pause scheduled posts, ads and automated messages

  Owner

  Monitoring lead

• 6

  Action

  Take dated screenshots of the posts, articles and reviews involved

  Owner

  Monitoring lead

• 7

  Action

  Brief employees and front-line staff in one short message

  Owner

  HR and internal lead

• 8

  Action

  Draft the first statement from the template and send it through approval

  Owner

  Writer

• 9

  Action

  Publish it on the agreed channel and point every other channel to it

  Owner

  Monitoring lead

• 10

  Action

  Set the time of the next update and who gives it

  Owner

  Crisis lead

Message templates you can copy

Every template below is a hypothetical starting point, not a statement from a real organization. Replace each [BRACKET] with confirmed facts. Never put patient, customer or employee personal data in a statement, and have counsel review the final text before anything is sent.

Template 1: Holding statement. Use it when you know something has happened but not the details. Counsel note: do not state a cause, assign blame or promise an outcome until the facts are confirmed. For variations by scenario, see our holding statement examples.

We are aware of [BRIEF, FACTUAL DESCRIPTION OF THE SITUATION]. We are looking into it and will share more as soon as we have confirmed information. Our priority is [PEOPLE AFFECTED]. If you are affected, please contact [CHANNEL] at [CONTACT]. We will give our next update by [DATE AND TIME] on [CHANNEL].

Template 2: Internal employee message. Counsel note: have counsel review any instruction about what employees may say publicly, because employment law can limit it, and keep colleagues' personal details out.

Subject: Update on [SITUATION]. Team, we want you to hear this from us first. [ONE-SENTENCE FACTUAL SUMMARY]. We are working on it with [TEAM OR ADVISERS]. Please send any press, customer or outside inquiries to [NAME AND CONTACT] rather than replying yourself. We will update you by [DATE AND TIME]. If you have questions, contact [NAME AND CONTACT].

Template 3: Customer message. Counsel note: if personal data is involved, notice rules may apply, and wording about apology or responsibility has liability consequences.

Subject: What happened and what it means for you. We want to tell you about [SITUATION] directly. [WHAT HAPPENED IN PLAIN LANGUAGE, CONFIRMED FACTS ONLY]. What this means for you: [EFFECT ON THE CUSTOMER, STATED ONLY IF CONFIRMED]. What we are doing: [ACTIONS]. What you can do: [STEPS]. For help, contact [CHANNEL]. We will update you by [DATE AND TIME].

Template 4: Social media post and reply. Post the short version, link to the full statement, and do not debate in the replies.

Post: We are aware of [SITUATION] and are looking into it. We will share confirmed information at [LINK] by [DATE AND TIME]. If you are affected, contact [CHANNEL].

Reply: Thank you for raising this. We take it seriously. Please contact [CHANNEL] so we can look at your situation directly.

Template 5: Media Q and A starter. Prepare answers before calls come in, and read them to counsel. Counsel note: the answer about responsibility carries the most risk.

Q: What happened? A: [CONFIRMED FACTS ONLY]. We will not speculate beyond that.

Q: Who is affected? A: [CONFIRMED NUMBER, OR: WE ARE STILL CONFIRMING THAT].

Q: What are you doing about it? A: [ACTIONS ALREADY TAKEN].

Q: Who is responsible? A: We are focused on the facts and on [PEOPLE AFFECTED]. We will share what we can confirm. [HAVE COUNSEL APPROVE THIS ANSWER.]

Q: When will we know more? A: We will update by [DATE AND TIME].

Channels and who posts

Choose one home for the full, dated statement and point everything else to it.

• Website statement page

  Who posts

  Writer, after sign-off

  Rule

  The full, dated statement lives here and every other channel links to it

• Email

  Who posts

  Customer lead or HR lead

  Rule

  Send only approved text

• Social accounts

  Who posts

  Monitoring lead

  Rule

  Post approved text and reply only with approved wording

• Press and media

  Who posts

  Spokesperson only

  Rule

  Nobody else speaks on the record

• Phone and support scripts

  Who posts

  Customer lead

  Rule

  Brief the team on the same facts as the statement

Date and time every update. If a statement needs correcting, add a dated correction instead of quietly editing it.

Monitoring and escalation

Assign someone to watch news, social posts, reviews, search results and mentions of your name, and to log each one with a link, a screenshot and a time. Escalate to the crisis lead when a new outlet picks up the story, a post is spreading faster, a regulator or lawyer makes contact, or a claim appears that your facts contradict. Use the levels above. The questions people keep asking are your next update.

What happens in search, reviews and AI answers

Most templates stop at the press release. Afterward, people search for you. Check how the incident appears in search results, news, review sites and AI answers, record what you see with dates, and correct what is factually wrong through the right channel. Some content can be removed when it breaks a platform's policy or the law. Other content cannot, and no one can promise rankings or outcomes. Our reputation crisis management page explains the work, and our guide to how to recover from a PR crisis covers the weeks that follow.

After-action review

Hold a review once the incident is closed. Ask what happened and when, which steps worked, where approvals slowed you down, what you said that proved wrong or incomplete, which audiences heard late and what to change in the plan, the team list and the templates. Record the answers, assign owners and dates, and update the plan. Our crisis communication strategy guide and crisis communication examples show how public cases unfolded.

How to test the plan

Ready.gov's training and testing page says exercises improve knowledge of plans, help individuals improve their own performance and identify ways to strengthen response capabilities. A short exercise is enough to start: give the team a hypothetical scenario, such as a false viral post about your product, a clock and a blank copy of this plan. Walk through who declares the crisis, drafts, approves and posts. Note how long approval takes. Call every person on the contact list to check the numbers. Review the plan on a schedule and after every real incident or staff change.

When to get help

A plan only works if the people in it can use it under pressure. If you want help drafting statements, or work on the search results, reviews and AI answers around an incident, see our crisis communications service, or read how crisis management and PR crisis management fit together. Reputation Resolutions has worked on online reputation since 2013, is A+ BBB accredited, is a Google Partner and has clients in 40+ countries. We are not a law firm, and your counsel decides what you can safely say.