Using social media and other new technologies strategically and effectively will require a significant cultural shift for many organizations.
What distinguishes nonprofits that do this well from nonprofits that don’t, and how can those on the front lines change the dynamic in more traditional and hierarchical environments?
As organizations think more strategically about network analysis and networked action, they will find themselves working with a combination of long-term partners and short-term contributors, some of whom might be considered competitors as well as collaborators.
To what extent is trust likely to be an issue, and how can networks effectively overcome the resistance likely to arise from those concerns?
Although cross-sector collaboration will surely be a continuing trend, the jury is still out on what impact emerging organizational structures like L3Cs and B Corporations may have on the competitive environment. In the meantime, challenges to the tax-exempt status of traditional 501(c)(3)s continue, posing questions like:
Are all nonprofits equally deserving of the full exemption, for example the symphony and the soup kitchen?
Should tax-related benefits be limited to 501(c)(3)s, or is there merit in extending these – even if at a lesser level – to other organizational forms?
Designing and managing meaningful and mission-advancing volunteer opportunities for a diverse array of individuals and interests takes time and investment.
How might networks of social benefit organizations work together to make that more feasible for each one individually?
Many next generation social sector leaders are interested in greater life/work balance – not a defining feature of the nonprofit sector. They are also less ideologically driven and more interested in solving problems. As corporations offer more opportunities for engagement in solving social problems, the nonprofit sector, as a destination, may be less appealing.
If this young talent can work for a corporation, make a good living, and still do socially meaningful work, why would they choose to work for a nonprofit?
In conjunction with the release of our new report, I am really excited that we are launching a blog where you can participate in discussions about the future of the sector. This tool is part of our yearlong effort to create a dialogue about where the sector is going. NonprofitNext grows out of an initial research grant from Fieldstone Alliance and a later investment by the James Irvine Foundation, which is particularly interested in how these issues play out in California.
Today we are at the threshold of an historic time for the nonprofit sector. Several powerful developments are coming together to make the next few years a time of unusual opportunity for positive change in the way nonprofits are structured, operate, and work with constituents. At the same time, the deep global recession will increase nonprofits’ risk of failure if they do not successfully address this tide of change. La Piana Consulting is currently launching an initiative to explore both key trends and creative, promising responses to them.
