Becoming Networked Nonprofits: What Nonprofit Leaders Need to Know to Succeed in Age of Connectedness This document discusses how nonprofits need to adapt to an increasingly connected world by becoming networked nonprofits. It recommends that nonprofit leaders adopt a network mindset of openness, decentralized decision-making, and collective action. The document also presents a maturity of practice model for nonprofits with four levels - crawl, walk, run, fly - based on their use of social networks and measurement of results. Finally, it discusses the importance of managing attention online through mindfulness and establishing habits and rituals to stay focused.

1. Becoming Networked Nonprofits:
What Nonprofit Leaders Need to Know to Succeed in
Age of Connectedness
Beth Kanter, Author, Blogger, and Trainer
Beth’s Blog
September 11, 2012
The 2012 Nonprofit Management Institute

2. Beth Kanter

3. Learning Objectives
Network
Mindset
Maturity of
Practice
Mindful
Social Media
One action
step

4. Is Your Nonprofit Using Online Social
Networks for Social Change?
Stand Up
Photo by net_efekt

5. Stay standing if your
organization is using
networks and social media
effectively and getting
measurable results?

6. My nonprofit tech work
begins ….

7. Photo by Steve Goodman
2007

8. 2012

9. 2012

16. Social Change is Increasingly Network-Centric

17. The connectedness of living in a networked,
mobile world is part of our every day lives.
These technologies are having a profound
impact on the way nonprofits communicate
with stakeholders, and deliver programs. It
is also changing the way leaders lead
nonprofits.
Remember: Disruption can be both our friend

18. Share Pair: Over the past five years, how has
connectedness impacted the way your organization
delivers programs, communicates with
stakeholders, or does it work?

19. Change from the Inside Out
NGO
Modified illustration by David Armano
The Micro-Sociology of Networks
With apologies to David Armano for hacking his visual!
Source: The Micro-Sociology of Networks

20. Networked Nonprofits
Staff
With apologies to David Armano for hacking his visual!
Source: The Micro-Sociology of Networks

21. A Network Mindset: A Leadership Style
• Openness, transparency, decentralized
decision-making, and collective action.
• Listening and cultivating organizational and
professional networks to achieve the impact
• Leadership through active participation.
• Sharing control of decision-making
• Communicating through a network model,
rather than a broadcast model

22. Leading With A Network Mindset: Shift From Push To Pull
SF Goodwill's CEO, Debbie Alvarez-
Rodriguez

23. Leading With A Network Mindset

24. Leading With A Network Mindset

25. Understand, Feed, and Tune Your Networks

26. The Networked CEO
Open and accessible to the world and
building relationships
Making interests, hobbies, passions visible
creates authenticity

27. One CEO Tweet = 1,000 by Staff
27

28. Your Professional Network: Redundant Connections
InMap (http://inmaps.linkedinlabs.com/)
Source: Meg Garlinghouse, LInkedIn

29. Be the Broker in the Structural Hole
InMap (http://inmaps.linkedinlabs.com/)
Source: Meg Garlinghouse, LInkedIn

30. Blending Network Strategy With Communications Strategy
From
CEO
to
CNO
Tweets links related to organization’s mission
and work as a bipartisan advocacy organization
dedicated to making children and families a
priority in federal policy and budget decisions.

31. Networking Is Dynamic Learning
SEEK SENSE SHARE
Identified key blogs and Summarizes article in a Engages with aligned
online sites in issue area tweet partners
Scans and reads every Writes for Huffington Post Presentations
morning and picks out best

34. Share Pair: Are you leading your nonprofit with a
“Network Mindset”? What are the benefits?
What are the challenges?

35. If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t
run then walk, if you can’t walk then
crawl, but whatever you do you have
to keep moving forward.”
Inspiration

36. Becoming A Networked Nonprofit: Maturity of
Practice Model
Crawl Walk Run Fly
Time Investment Link Social to Integrated Content Integrated Multiple
Communications Strategy Channels
Objective
Culture Change Social Media Policy Engage Influencers and Network Building
Partners
Basics Small Pilots for Insights Best Practices in Tactics Reflection, Continually
and Practice Tangible Results Improve Results

37. CRAWL Four Corners of the Room WALK
If you are crawling, what does it look like?
What do you need to get to the next level?
If you are walking, what does it look like?
What do you need to get to the next level?
If you are running, what does it look like?
What do you need to get to the next level?
If you are flying, what does it look like?
How can you keep flying?
RUN FLY

38. Share Pair: Where is your organization in terms of
the indicator for measurement? Crawl, Walk, Run,
or Fly …

39. Detailed Indicators, Metrics, and Practices
Themes Categories Indicators
INTERNAL CULTURE Networked Mindset
Institutional Support
Communications Strategy
CAPACITY Hours Best
Expertise Practices and
Channels
MEASUREMENT Analysis Metrics Differ
Tools for Crawl,
Adjustment
EXTERNAL LISTENING Brand Monitoring Walk, Run,
Relationship Mapping Fly
Influencer Research
ENGAGEMENT Ladder of Engagement
Responsiveness
CONTENT Integration
Social Optimization
NETWORK Networking and Networking Building
Collaboration with Partners
Social Fundraising
IMPACT METRICS Reach
Engagement
Influence
Thought Leadership
Results (Activity, Behavior Change, Financial)

40. Creating A Data Informed Culture: The
Five Stages of Measurement Acceptance
Data
Delight Informed
Confusion
Fear
Denial

41. Denial
I don’t have the time
to measure. It’s an
art, not a science –
so why bother

42. Fear
What if my strategy
or program doesn’t
show success?

43. Confusion I know I should
measuring our social
media and network,
but not sure what or
how?

44. Hey check out
Delight
these cool charts
and graphics!

45. Data Informed
Successful networks and
social media start with
measurement

46. Where is your organization?
Data
Delight Informed
Confusion
Fear
Denial

47. Data-Informed Not Data-Driven

48. What does a data informed culture look like in a
nonprofit?

49. It starts from the
top!

50. More time think about that the data, then collect it

51. Tear down those silos and walls

52. Why did it fail?
What did we learn?
What insights can use next
time around?
DoSomething.Org’s Fail Fest

53. Becoming A Networked Nonprofit: Maturity of
Practice Model - Measurement
Crawl Walk Run Fly
Lacks consistent data Data collection Data from multiple Org Wide KPIs
collection consistent but not sources
shared
No reporting or Data not linked to System and structure for Organizational
synthesis results, could be wrong data collection Dashboard with
data different views, sharing
Decisions based on gut Rarely makes decisions Discussed at staff Data visualization,
to improve meetings, decisions reporting, formal
made using it reflection process

54. Becoming Data-Informed: Change Is Easy
With Baby Steps
• Begin at the end – discuss and identify
results
• Curator of metrics
• Use experiments to help you evolve
• Get started with a small data collection
project that is high priority in your
organization
• Learn from your results

55. Becoming Data-Informed: Change Is Easy
With Baby Steps
• Begin at the end – discuss and identify
results
• Curator of metrics
• Use experiments to help you evolve
• Get started with a small data collection
project that is high priority in your
organization
• Learn from your results

56. Mindful
Networking or
Mind Full
Networking?
Photo by pruzicka

57. Managing Your Attention Online: Why Is It An Important
Networking Skill?

58. Self-Knowledge Is The First Step
A few quick
assessment
questions
Add up your
score: # of YES
answers

59. Self-Knowledge Is The First Step
1. When you open email or do social media tasks, does it make you feel anxious?
2. When you are seeking information to curate, have you ever forgotten what it was in
the first place you wanted to accomplish?
3. Do you ever wish electronic information would just go away?
4. Do you experience frustration at the amount of electronic information you need to
process daily?
5. Do you sit at your computer for longer than 30 minutes at a time without getting
up to take a break?
6. Do you constantly check (even in the bathroom on your mobile phone) your email,
Twitter or other online service?
7. Is the only time you're off line is when you are sleeping?
8. Do you feel that you often cannot concentrate?
9. Do you get anxious if you are offline for more than a few hours?
10.Do you find yourself easily distracted by online resources that allow you to avoid
other, pending work?

60. What’s Your Attention Focusing Score?
Source: Lulumonathletica
0…1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10
Mindful Online………………………………………………………..Need Help Now

61. What does it mean to manage your attention while your
curate or other social media tasks?
• Understand your goals and priorities and
ask yourself at regular intervals whether
your current activity serves your higher
priority.
• Notice when your attention has
wandered, and then gently bringing it
back to focus on your highest priority
• Sometimes in order to learn or deepen
relationships -- exploring from link to link
is permissible – and important. Don’t
Source: Howard Rheingold
NetSmart make attention training so rigid that it
destroys flow.

62. What are some techniques that you can use
to help you or staff stay focused while
networking online or managing your staff?

64. A Few Tips
Manage Your Attention, Not Just Your
Time
Visualize on Paper
Establish Rituals
Reflection
Manage Electronic Distractions
Manage Physical Space
Just Say No

65. Share Pair: What one small change will you try?
To establish new attention
habits, start small, find a
place in your routine for new
behavior and repeat until
paying attention has become
a habit.
Source: Bandragirl: http://bandragirl.tumblr.com/

66. One Minute of Silence: What is one idea that you can you into
practice next week? Write on an index card with your email address,
win my next book!
Flickr Photo by John K

67. Thank you!
www.bethkanter.org
www.facebook.com/beth.kanter.blog
@kanter on Twitter