What a 2011 guide for grantmakers says about helping networks grow: know them, knit them, organize them, and judge them by network standards.
Networks & Impact
Many of the problems people try to fix are too big for any one organization: clean water, school quality, disaster response, climate. Working on them usually means working with others, and over the past two decades the internet has made that easier and cheaper.
The guides
How Funders Can Build Network Capacity What a 2011 guide for grantmakers says about helping networks grow: mapping them first, paying for shared spaces and a person to connect people, and judging networks by network standards.
Networked Nonprofits: Working Through Connections How nonprofits reach further by equipping supporters and partners to act, with the KaBOOM! case study and five benefits described in a 2010 Stanford Social Innovation Review article.
Open Data and Crowdsourcing in International Development The World Bank’s 2010 open data launch, a 2009 data BarCamp on aid transparency, and the Ushahidi map used after the Haiti earthquake.
Collaboration Tools for Social Change From the first wiki in 1995 to shared spaces built by foundations, and a short list of questions for choosing a tool.
The Working Wikily Report A page about the 2009 Monitor Institute report that gave “working wikily” its name, with a copy you can read.
A note on dates
Most of the material cited here is from 2008 to 2012, when many of these ideas were new. Tools and websites have changed since then. Treat the examples as case studies of how people approached the problem, and check current details before acting on them.
How nonprofits use networks and online tools to reach further than their own staff can, with the KaBOOM! case study and five benefits from a 2010 SSIR article.
The World Bank's 2010 open data launch, a 2009 development data BarCamp, and the Ushahidi map used after the Haiti earthquake: what each shows about sharing data.
From the first wiki in 1995 to shared online spaces built by foundations: how groups working on social problems have used collaboration tools, and how to pick one.
A page about Working Wikily 2.0, the 2009 Monitor Institute report on networks and social change: who wrote it, what it covers, its licence, and where to read it.
Canada’s Task Force on Social Finance proposed capital, policy, and training changes while mapping organizations from charity to business.
A December 2010 debate examined why collaboration needs clear goals, roles, and decision-making rather than consensus for its own sake.
Monitor Institute examined how member-based advocacy groups responded as younger supporters favored flexible, networked forms of involvement.
A January 2011 report examined text messaging, radio, crisis maps, and volunteers after Haiti's earthquake.
Malcolm Gladwell's 2010 essay prompted writers to examine how online networks and offline organizing can work together.
The claim that Twitter powered Iran's 2009 protests spread widely, but reporting later showed most tweeting came from outside Iran.