10/20/2008 - Connected Recovery

By Allison Fine

In the last twenty years as the nonprofit sector has experienced dramatic growth there have been just a few mild economic downturns, such as in 2001-2002, but for the most part this modern era of activism has been an unending stretch of growth in the number and size of donations. Until now. Given our dependence on voluntary giving and government contracts, nonprofits are going to be hit hard, perhaps harder than any other business sector, in the next few years during what is certainly a recession if not an upcoming depression.

So, what’s a nonprofit organization to do in these frightening economic times?

Others have been doing a terrific job of advice giving on how to budget and plan better in these tough times. Todd Cohen has been providing advice on his blog, Inside Philanthropy. The Chronicle of Philanthropy is also helping nonprofit organizations that have traditionally received government funds that may not be available now to think creatively about their finances. I’d like to add my thoughts to these on the critical importance of getting more connected to your constituents as part of your survival strategy toolkit.

I used the term “connected activism” in Momentum to describe the intersection of social media and social change efforts. It means using the myriad new, social media tools like blogs and Facebook to have real conversations with your constituents. It means working through networks of activists rather than trying to “own” a database of donors. It means pushing power to the edges rather than trying to control strategies and messages from the top down. It requires organizations to be very agile to expand and contract in keeping with the natural rhythms of their issues and resources rather than trying to continuously grow bigger on a financial spreadsheet. Most of all it requires a shift in mindset from power and control to participation and inclusion – a shift that is much easier said than done for older organizations that were successful in last century’s fundraising environment.

The key to becoming all of these things is increased connectedness; real, meaningful interactions between you and your constituents. Not the broadcast, controlled messaging of the past, but real two-way conversations that connects people, whoever and wherever they are, to your efforts and creates a wider network of participants and supporters.

A natural human reaction when the world becomes an unfriendlier place is to withdraw to one’s comfort zone and press ahead with tried and true strategies. This is a huge mistake for nonprofit organizations. Going once more to the direct mail well will not only yield less but take up time and energy that they don’t have to waste.

So, here are five ways to increase nonprofit connectedness that will yield greater capital for nonprofit organizations. Please note: I am not talking necessarily about just more money but greater intellectual and social capital that is just as good, if not better, than money in certain circumstances.

1. Focus on What You Do Best. Mission creep has become endemic by nonprofits because it is often easier to follow the funding than stick to our core mission. But, in this new environment there may not be new money to follow. It is therefore critically important for nonprofits to go back to basics and ask yourself what you are fundamentally in the business of accomplishing – and get rid of the rest. If you’ve heard the ubiquitous Suzy Orman providing financial advise on TV lately, you’ve heard her advise everyone within eye and earshot to get rid of anything extra, the second car, the health club membership, get rid of it now. Nonprofits heed this same advice, get rid of the extra programs that don’t pay for themselves, lay off staff, don’t put a penny out the door that isn’t absolutely necessary because it is sucking up time and energy you need to maintain the core of your efforts.
2. Rethink success. One of the many bad habits that nonprofits have borrowed from for profits over the past twenty years defining success only as continued economic growth. Did we add more revenue/staff/programs this year? That’s the question that boards ask year after year, as if the only way to serve communities better, or have a greater impact, is to do more of the same – at the cost of doing whatever you do really well. We need to rethink this, and educate board members about the difference between impact and growth. We need to think about how to serve people well, how to raise awareness of issues well, not how to add more staff and new programs. Don’t be embarrassed by small programs that serve a few people really well and are easy to maintain – stretching yourself to the limits of your capacity is a nonprofit staple – and an exhausting, dangerous way to live economically especially now.
3. Live Within Your Ecosystem. The quest for funding often pits one nonprofit organization against another. We have become adept at cannibalizing sister agencies in order to present ourselves to funders as the “best” or “the most unique” service provider or advocate. These artificial distinctions drain organizations instead of helping them to become more powerful ecosystems. When each organization is focused on what it does best, not becoming sprawling growth machines themselves, then they can connect with like-minded, collaborative partner organizations to serve their communities and constituents better.
4. Nurture Your Networks. So, how do you service your communities and constituents better? By connecting with them in real, meaningful ways. Too often, communications between organizations and constituents has devolved into a one-way ask for money. We’re not really interested in you, most organizations are saying, unless and until you write us a check. People have lots to offer organizations in terms of what they know and who they know. Organizations needs to reach out and talk to them, where they are on sites like Facebook, and ask them how they should proceed, what they can do to help – and then they have to actually listen to the advice. This is the giving up control part – and if your organization isn’t ready to give it up, don’t bother asking people for advice. You may be astonished at how passionate people are about your cause and what extraordinary social networks they have that they can activate to support your efforts. Do you really need $50,000 to create a new website – or do you need a new website that members of your network could build for you if they felt included and excited about what you were doing?
5. Trust yourself. In trying times it’s important to remember why you do the work that you do – to make our corner of the world a better place. We need to reject the Phyrric belief that success will come from being closed, competitive, opaque and hard of hearing. If it ever worked, it certainly won’t now. The elixir is to be your best self; open, transparent, connected and courageous.

The environment of the next two years will be very difficult for every organization regardless of their size, age or resources. For organizations that may have been hesitating to use the new social media tools like blogs, online social networks or Twitter you have no choice now; connect or vanish. We need to connect to our fundamental core of who we are, what we do and why we exist, and then connect with like minded people and ask them to contribute what they know and who they know to our efforts. You may surprise yourself and not just survive the downturn but thrive as well!

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Allison H. Fine
Author and Activist

What happens when blogs, Facebook and cell phones intersect with illiteracy, hunger, AIDs and many other worthy causes? Connected activism results; the intersection of easy-to-use social media tools and idealistic activists. Allison Fine writes about this explosive intersection in her award-winning book, Momentum: Igniting Social Change in the Connected Age (Wiley & Sons, 2006).

She is a Senior Fellow on the Democracy Team at Demos: A Network for Change and Action in New York City, Allison’s research and writing focuses on the intersection of social media and social change. She has recently published a paper on young people and activism commissioned by the Case Foundation, Social Citizens, and edited a collection of essays, Rebooting America, of transformative ways to reinvent 21st century democracy using new media tools.

She is also a Senior Editor at the Personal Democracy Forum. Her articles have been published in the Boston Globe, San Jose Mercury Times and the San Francisco Chronicle. She is also a frequent contributor to Huffington Post, Personal Democracy Forum, Alternet and the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Allison served as the C.E.O. of The E-Volve Foundation in 2004-2005, and was the Founder and Executive Director of Innovation Network, Inc. from 1992-2004. She is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and New York University, and was a Trustee and Fire and Police Commissioner of Sleepy Hollow, New York.