Nonprofit Networks Embrace New Methods to Deliver More Impact

Boston, MA--September 7, 2011. As nonprofit organizations continue to shift from focusing on pure expansion of their services to a parallel emphasis on ensuring they’re having impact, many of the nation’s largest nonprofits—networked organizations—are taking promising steps to deliver better results, according to a recent study by the Bridgespan Group.

The study, “Growing Network Impact: How Nonprofit Networks are Raising the Bar on Results” is based on Bridgespan’s work over the last few years and includes examples from six networks with broad reach across America. Alan Tuck, the Bridgespan partner and co-author of the study said that the economy has intensified the focus on nonprofits to provide evidence to supporters that their work is effective and delivered consistently across the board. “Our goal in developing this article was to outline what these organizations are doing to identify, connect, and support affiliates based on capabilities rather than just size to improve the entire network’s ability to make a difference for the people or causes it serves,” said Tuck.

All of the organizations included were in the process of implementing new approaches to “getting better,” and the research found that there were five critical, common elements to their approach. They all:
• Use the network’s unified strategy to drive decision-making
• Create a common language (shared understanding of what high performance looks like) by defining the dimensions of effectiveness
• Create paths for improvement for affiliates by defining clear developmental milestones
• Diagnose where the network is today to give themselves a baseline against which to measure progress and uncover current pools of strength and weakness
• Capture knowledge that matters, leveraging affiliates’ knowledge to facilitate learning and improvement across the board.

In conjunction with the study, Bridgespan solicited input from some network leaders and created a set of planning guidelines to assist others organizations. According to co-author Mandy Taft-Pearman, “Just as building and aligning network strategies is a multi-year process, the work to define, embrace, and attain excellence of impact across large networks is a marathon, not a sprint. We hope this piece will spur others in this new direction.”

About the Bridgespan Group
Founded in 2000 and incubated at Bain & Company, the Bridgespan Group is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that helps nonprofit and philanthropic leaders to make strategic decisions and to build organizations that inspire and accelerate social change. At the heart of our mission is the belief that a strong and effective nonprofit sector can be a powerful force for change as well as a source of human inspiration.

We believe that results are driven by three levers: solid strategy; access to appropriately structured capital; and talent that begins with leaders and senior managers. We exist to apply the best relevant thinking and tools to strengthen these levers and to help organizations deliver on their missions. Our services include strategy consulting, executive search, and philanthropy advising.

The Bridgespan Group
535 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116
CONTACT: Liz London
PHONE: 646-562-8906
EMAIL: liz.london@bridgespan.org

This release was published on openPR.