Some interesting thoughts over at Social Edge about the future of nonprofits, NGOs, social sector organizations, or whatever we might be calling them in 2016. According to the intro, a decade from now, these organizations will:
- Be mobile
- Offer instant transparency and social impact measurements
- Become rapid response social opportunity networks
- Access free, on-demand technology tools
- Have direct channels to the public
While the set-up is a bit thin, and a few commenters are more focused on semantics than substance, there are some useful thoughts in the mix. Worth a moment.
Thanks for the link. I infer that their nonprofit frame of reference is the social services sector, and not the arts. I have trouble seeing a Renoir on a sandwich board or Cat on a Hot Tin Roof literally on a hot tin roof, but I supposed these things are not out of the question given conceivable changes in tax policy – like the introduction of a flat tax, for instance. Frankly, Andrew, I’m getting really tired of amateur futurists who are more like fortune-tellers or astrologers than anything else. I have to go now and read my horoscope. Grins, Neill
I think one of the more relevant points made in the list above is direct channels to the public. This is a commodity that nonprofits utilize to gain civic and business support now. The question is how will future nonprofits capitalize on this asset in a more competitive attention economy without compromising their missions (and the community’s trust)?
The transparency ideas are intriguing. Using Sarbanes-Oxley as a model, many smaller budget performing arts groups focus on the here an now of implementation and complain about the very real difficulties of compliance. However, it will be interesting to see if any are considering the dynamic consequences of dedicating additional time, effort, and resources of increased community interest, participation, and donations.
What??
Sounds pretty different from the NGOs/associations I’m familiar with… To get more clarity, I also went to read the original Social Edge posting, and smiled at the wording “single agency staff can be working for multiple agencies simultaneously”. Well, I suppose even now some people working in NGOs are active in several at the same time…
Don’t most NGOs already have at least a basic web page and/or mailing list, and a paid or unpaid webmaster who is able to “self-maintain [their] technology toolbox”?
Well, sounds dynamic, anyway 🙂