Dateline September 2011: The Dow Jones Industrial Average, created in the late 1800’s, is considering combining with the S&P500 (1956). “Counties brace for stream of state prisoners.” July 2011: The San Francisco 49ers and the “Oakland Raiders could share a stadium.”
In some ways, it is a privilege that we find ourselves in a massive “redesign phase” for many of our systems. This is true for the Non-Profit Sector, as well, as many of the 1.6 million agencies in the U.S. agencies are challenged by a 10-20% reduction in funding, shortages of talent combined with an increased demand for services. An unprecedented “hat trick” of challenges.
“GDP measures everything except that which makes life worthwhile.”
– Robert F. Kennedy, 1968
We, in The Minerva Project, having created breakthrough collaborations since 2009, want to inject some order, insights and forethought into this chaotic, “free-market” process in the Non-Profit Sector. It is clear, to us, that an outdated model where “winners” are picked and the weak left to fall away is not sustainab
le. It’s clear that the win/lose, competitive proposition is part of an archaic paradigm that will poorly serve an increasing number of those in need.
The adversity besetting the NP Sector (and likely to get more challenging) is a time ripe with possibilities for reinvention. Our plan is to create and provide a new and different set of tools and technologies to help Non-Profits effectively utilize all the resources available to them, including each other. The goal? To boost performance; b) reduce the levels of fear and inaction, and; c) more effectively serve constituents.
We all — Government, Society, Citizens — need NP’s / Community Based Organizations to be vibrant and effective service delivery systems for the vulnerable populations. Help is deeply needed right now before a calamitous event that is predicted to occur by 2013.
This is a call for us to work together — to model what we preach — to do something remarkable as we build a more functional ecosystem in which Non-Profits can thrive through this difficult point in time. Simultaneously, we can demonstrate to other geographies that a multiple-stakeholder (Non-Profits, Funders, Government, Constituents) process — similar to one used by RE-AMP in the Midwest for sustainable energy — can turn competitors and adversaries into partners and collaborators. Mediocre organizations into high performers.
We can help to retool many agencies instead of relying on an outdated model of “go it alone” or “try and fail.” Constituents, along with Society will, ultimately, be poorly served. The Minerva Project has already demonstrated how to do that. We want to partner with you to build the next phase of our work. We know there is a better way.
The Minerva Project is a unit of Community Building Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)3 Non-Profit Founded in 2006
