The Networked Nonprofit

“In the end, it cuts them off from enormous networks of people of good will and creativity and energy that are the only way that we’re going to be able to scale social problem-solving,” she added.

Instead of operating as a fortress, organizations should be more like a sponge — an open environment where things pass through easily, holding on to the good stuff and letting go of the bad stuff. This way, those walls come down, the lines between inside and outside become blurred, and organizations engage with their networks, with their supporters and donors, not at them. This cross-collaboration “allows staff to connect out to networks of people and organizations to reach and solve goals,” Kanter said.