In our on going academic study and research of the non-profit sector we have stumbled across the work of Leslie R. Crutchfield and Heather McLeod Grant entitled “Forces for Good”, where we found a gold mine of research based information that is very timely.
To quote Steve Case, Founder of America Online and Chairman of the Case foundation he states “we’ve learned to appreciate the non-profit arena’s inherent complexities and how hard they can be to navigate…that being effective requires unique expertise and that over the last few years not many non-profit leaders have managed to build and scale organizations that have significant, widespread impact. “ He further elaborates that “the non-profit sector has a tremendous opportunity to shape a better future for humanity – but only if people can transform their goodwill into genuine results.”
Imagine a world focused on high-impact giving, where non-profit organizations collaborate with business to harness market “Forces for Good” and leverage business people as resources for planning and operational excellence. I imagine executives and boards thinking beyond their own needs, collaborating with their competitors to share scarce investment dollars, and developing a network of active, engaged supporters who can transform the entire field. Imagine a cohort of non-profit leaders geared toward innovation, prepared to adapt their organizations to changes in the non-profit marketplace and be able to refresh their operating structures with regular waves of creativity.
Mr. Case summarizes that “to become a force for good – all that is required is the will to engage with whatever you can bring to the table.” Crutchfield and Grant, throughout their extensive research, found that during the last several decades a new cadre of entrepreneurial non-profits has created extraordinary levels of social impact. These pioneering “change makers” are the vanguard of a growing civic sector – a segment of the US economy valued at more than 1$ trillion.
In their two years spent studying these organizations, they uncovered their secrets to success, and what enabled them to have such high level of impact. They discovered that we need new frameworks for understanding what makes great non-profits great and new ways of thinking about creating social change (real impact). The best of these organizations – including the twelve profiled in ““Forces for Good”” are run by social entrepreneurs who are highly adaptive and innovative leaders who see new ways to solve old problems and who find points of leverage to create large-scale systemic change.
These non-profits are not merely content to plod along with incremental change or let conventional wisdom stand in their way of success. Merely building a great board or delivering adequate services or even running an efficient non-profit is no longer enough. It’s the end of charity, as we know it, and the beginning of high impact philanthropy.
What I found so remarkable, but not surprising, is that the twelve non-profits profiled in ““Forces for Good”” were national organizations in the United States and their annual budgets ranged from $13 Million to $1 Billion annually.
It should be noted that, regardless of whether we look at rejuvenating, resurrecting, sustaining, or otherwise increasing the impact of a local, regional, state, national or international non-profit organization, there is immense value to be found in ““Forces for Good””.
“Impact is of the greatest importance!”
—Mario Morino – Chairman, Venture Philanthropy Partners—
