www.forcesforgood.net
Forces for Good
'How did seeing a pile of McDonald’s trash lead Environmental Defense’s CEO to join forces with business instead of treating it as the enemy? Why did a school bus driver prompt Self-Help to move from providing loans to low-income groups in the South, to launch a national advocacy campaign against predatory lending? And how did Teach for America turn the teachers it places in hundreds of public schools into a national vanguard for education reform?'
After four years of extensive research, Leslie Crutchfield and Heather McLeod Grant reveal the six powerful practices of twelve high impact nonprofits. They tell their stories and the lessons they have learnt in the book, Forces For Good: The Six Practices of High Impact Nonprofits (Jossey-Bass, October 2007).
Next to studying the the twelve organizations, they carried out surveys with thousands of nonprofit CEOs and conducted hundreds of interviews to unveil the secret:
'Great nonprofits spend as much time working outside their four walls as they do managing their internal operations. They use the power of leverage to become greater forces for good.' Building social movements and fields, transforming business, government, other nonprofits and individuals around them.
How have a number of succesful nonprofits had such significant social impact? In an article written by Crutchfield and McLeod Grant posted by the Stanford Social Innovation Review, the answer is revealed. The myths of nonprofit management and the six practices of high impact non profits are summarized below:
Myths
- Perfect management
- Brand-name awareness
- A breakthrough new idea
- Textbook mission statements
- High ratings on conventional metrics
- Large budgets
According to the writers these commonly held beliefs, important as they are, do not determine whether an organization has impact.
Six Practices
- Serve and advocate
- Make markets work
- Inspire envangelists
- Nurtue nonprofit networks
- Master the art of adaptation
- Share leadership
The secret thus lies in how these organizations mobilize every sector of society to be a force of good, catalyzing large scale social change.
For more information please see: www.forcesforgood.net