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Be Kind To Pets community education of pet owners, sponsored by www.asiahomes.com and www.toapayohvets.com.

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A veterinary surgeon at www.toapayohvets.com and founder of a licensed housing agency for expatriate rentals and sales at www.asiahomes.com

Monday, October 29, 2007

49. Creating High-Impact Nonprofits - 12 Cases

Standford Social Invovation Review Vol 5 No. 4

Secrets of Success ie in how high-impact nonprofits mobilize every sector of society - govt, business, non-profits and the public - to be a force for good.

6 practices to achieve extraordinary impact:
1. SERVE AND ADVOCATE
2. MAKE MARKETS WORK
3. INSPIRE EVANGELISTS
4. NUTURE NONPROFIT NETWORKS
5. MASTER THE ART OF ADAPTATION
6. SHARE LEADERSHIP

1. Service delivery alone cannot achieve large-scale social change. Good at both service and advocacy. Advocacy at the national level - replicate its model, gain credibility and acquire funding for expanasion.

e.g. Self-Help, Durham, N.C. Home loans to poor, minority single mothers. Predatory lenders. Self-Help organised a statewide coalition in N. Carolina to pass the first anti-predatory lending law in the USA. Then in 22 other states.

Some start with service, some with advocacy but they recognise early that both reinforce each other.

2. Tapping into the power of self-interest and laws of economics more effective than pure altruism.

e.g. Environmental Defense worked with McDonald's packaging to be more environmentally sound. Change business behaviour on a large scale.

Self-Help use mainstream financial players like Wachovia and Fannie Mae to reach underserved markets.

America's Second Harvest, City Year and Habitat for Humanity - large corporate partnerships to obtain funding, media relations, marketing support and in-kind donations.

Share Our Strength runs a nonprofit consulting business called Community Wealth Ventures whose revenue --- social mission to fund their programs.

3. Value volunteers, donors and advisers for their time, money and guidance and also evangelism. Create emotional experiences to connect supporters to the group's mission and core values.

Habitat for Humanity - churches, grassroots -- building homes for the poor. Mobilise super evangelist like JImmy Carter -- propel from a grassroots nonprofit to a global force for change.

4. Collaborative, collective action for large-scale social change.
Self interest to share wealth, expertise, talent and power with other nonprofits to help them succeed at fundraising. Influence legislation or conduct grassroots advocacy campaigns with worrying about getting credit.

The Heritage Foundation - local, state and national levels. > 2,000 member organisations for the Heritage's Resource Bank. As a critical connector to build a larger conservative movement over last 2 decades.

YouthBuild USA, Second harvest, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Exploartorium.

5. Combine creativity with disciplined system for evaluating, executing and adapting ideas over time.

e.g. Share Our Strength. - - raise money for hunger relief. Rather than direct mail campaign, launch the Taste of the Nation series - 70 cities -- professional chefs donate their time and talent to local tasting event.

"Taste of the Game" using celebrity athletes was a flop.
Develops business plans and research more before diving into new programs.
4 critical steps in the cycle of adaptation
- listen to feedback from external environments and seek opportuniites for improvement or change.
- Innovate and experiement, developing new ideas or improving upon older programs.
- Evaluate and learn what works with the innovation, sharing info and best practices across their networks.
- Modify plans and programs - ongoing learning. Never-ending cycle.

6. SHARE LEADERSHIP. Empower others to lead. Buld strong 2nd in command, enduring executive teams with long tenure, develop large and powerful boards (20->40 members share power with the executives).

e.g The National Council of La Raza - collective leadership. Hispanic leaders.


Big mistake -- focus too much on process rather than on impact.

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