The New Non-Profit: Convergence Culture Part 2

Last week Philanthropy.com featured a fascinating report published by La Piana Consulting for the James Irvine Foundation. The report identified five key trends influencing the non-profit sector and gave examples of organizations that were effectively navigating our convergence culture.

After reading the report I felt a mixed sensation of vindication and dismay. Many of the conclusions validated the moves we have made with JPSI and the Tagged Tanakh and many other points reflected how much further we have yet to go.

I was actually quite amused by the number of topics mentioned in the report that we have blogged about on JPSI for the last two years. For example, the notion of non-profits as futurists reminded me of the BibleTech seminar I attended in March about the same topic. The discussion of collectively rethinking what it means to be an organization in the context of permeability and blurring boundaries have also been topics of interest on this blog.

The geek in me really appreciated some of the links in the end notes including this one on the non-profit sector’s leadership deficit…and this one for network mapping.

Here are just a few more of my favorite tidbits from the report:

• “Being a futurist requires both individual and institutional curiosity, and a willingness to take risks.”




• “The future will require nonprofits to understand how to share leadership across generations.”




• “Begin by listening…then participate authentically.”




• “The organizations that win are organizations that mobilize those resources to get deeper buy-in to the organization — and ironically, not only will they benefit from those non-monetary resources, but also get more donations in the process.”




• “Nonprofits must design opportunities that both respect and appeal to the needs of an increasingly diverse volunteer pool — or risk seeing that pool turn its attention elsewhere.”




• “Once again it comes back to culture — openness, experimentation and even risk-taking — and the capacity of leadership to identify and implement tools wisely. Having a cogent, thoughtful, and flexible technology strategy may be one of the most important requirements of success for the nonprofit of the future.”




• “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.”