NOTE: This post is part of the Embracing the Future-Leading for Change post regarding our Annual General Meeting.
We would like to thank Sandra Richardson for the following very informative speech she gave at Volunteer Victoria’s Annual General Meeting on June 24, 2010. Sandra’s bio can be found at the end of this post.
We are all too familiar with the riveting impact on non-profits from the economic crisis. We are all asking what next? I feel the sector is now at an inflection point that will reshape it long after the economic crisis. Non-profits will find themselves in a new reality – not just economically, but demographically, technologically and socially.
A number of key trends are hastening the emergence of a new sector. What are some of the trends?
• Demographic shifts that redefine participation
• Technological advances abound
• Networks enable work to be organized in new ways
• Interest in Civic Engagement and Volunteerism is rising
• Sector boundaries are blurring
We are moving at the speed of change. Five years ago who would have dreamed of Twitter? Five years from now the sector will not simply have returned to its previous pre-crisis state. The non-profit sector is being tested as generational and other demographic shifts change the face of the donor base and workforce. Technology demands greater responsiveness and transparency, and the blending of the public, private and non-profit sectors create new competitive and collaborative opportunities while simultaneously calling into question just what it means to be a non-profit organization.
This is just the beginning – the most significant changes are likely not on our radar yet. We can say that change is nothing new to us in this sector, but the highly accelerated pace at which social, technological and economic shifts are now occurring and affecting one another, presents radical challenges and demands increasingly adaptive responses. The traditional approaches of non profits, funders and capacity-builders will fall short and the old rules may no longer apply.
So, how will non profits survive and thrive? We must become futurists – not predicting the future, but being attuned to rapid and continued shifts in the environment, continually evaluating and interpreting how organizations can best adapt. It means experimenting with new responses and approaches. Being a futurist will require both individual and institutional curiosity, and a willingness to take risks. We cannot afford to rest on our laurels, assuming that the old ways of doing business will continue to serve us in this dramatically new and ever-changing environment to map the road ahead for us – it is our responsibility to envision and shape the future for ourselves, our organizations and thus, our community.
The non-profit sector has always featured an inter-generational workplace, with older workers in leadership positions and younger colleagues in front line or support positions. However, the future will require non-profits to understand how to share leadership across generations. This shift could be fraught with assumptions on all sides, and complicated by real differences in the world view of “experience”.
There are significant distinctions in how the younger generations value, approach and leverage engagement, transparency, technology, professional development and work-life balance. The differences will need to be negotiated! Just as futurist non-profits will need to learn to share leadership, so too will they need to be inclusive in a wider variety of cultural perspectives and the diversity of leadership styles. These players adopt new technologies and tools such as social media and other capabilities. These technologies influence people’s values, including a desire to participate in real time, a demand for measureable results and expectations of openness and transparency. So the interplay between human and technology driven forces create new norms and structures, along with opportunities to solve problems in ways that blur traditional boundaries.
Networking is not new, however the advent of new technologies and new norms for working collaboratively means the impact of networks is increasing. Technology allows for a deeper and more meaningful collaboration than previously possible. It is now just as easy to learn and collaborate with an individual across the globe as with an organization across town. Networks can be formed and bring access to new and different networks. The future will mean looking at entrepreneurs, programs, organizations and networks of organizations and less focused on our own organization as the central unit of how we get our work done. As futurists we experiment with new structures and ways of working.
The rise in opportunities for direct activism and virtual volunteering puts non-profits in a precarious position demanding that meet rising expectations and prove their added value. We will see an increase in the number of active retirees – looking for a new definition of success in the second half of their lives. We will also see young professionals who were raised with community service as part of their everyday life that will add to this broad pool of volunteers. Virtual volunteering, where tasks are undertaken at least partially online is increasing in popularity regardless of geography. It’s giving back in one’s spare time, reducing transportation costs and travel time. This will be a tremendous opportunity for the sector if we learn to engage them, or risk seeing this pool turn their attention elsewhere.
This shifting environment creates numerous opportunities for non-profits to partner in new ways. Being able to recognize when to collaborate and when to compete, and having the capacity to move with confidence between the two will be key to non profits’ ability to survive and thrive. Non-profits will have to know the value they bring to the table and understand the dynamics of “co-opetition”, where an organization they are competing with, they must also cooperate with to understand joint ventures and acquisition activities.
The non-profit sector has historically had a monopoly on doing good. Now non-profits must consider public agencies, for profit corporations, networks and informal collections of individuals among their competitors and partners. Investment managers, financial institutions now compete with United Way and community foundations for donor directed funds and a growing emphasis on corporate social responsibility means the social virtue is no longer perceived as exclusive to the non-profit brand. Meanwhile donors want more accountability and evidence of impact placing pressure on the sector to perform in a new way. These elements challenge the sector to maintain their hold on identity as a sector and not just become competition in a new blended economy. The blurring of these boundaries creates opportunities for a growing number of public-private, corporate and non-profit collaborations to share learning and innovation.
Take heart and welcome change, share your experiences.
Sandra has been the CEO of the Victoria Foundation, the second oldest community foundation in Canada, for the last eight years. The Victoria Foundation funds a broad scope of charitable organizations to help reach their mandates and improve the lives of as many people as possible within our community.