From my vantage point, the world of nonprofits, social initiatives, and change-making projects is a little too oriented around the people at the top of organizations, as though the work of making a difference in the world is concentrated in the hands of founders and executive directors.
Not to take anything away from how hard it is to start and run an organization, but running a successful mission requires way more people than that. We shouldn’t approach the world of social innovation and philanthropy as though that were the case.
I’ve been in the world of nonprofits and social organizations for well over a decade. In that time I’ve subscribed to so many newsletters, joined so many networks, and attended so many conferences on how to make a bigger impact.
The fact that I’m here after all these years and feel like I’m just getting started is a testament to how much I enjoy the space. I love the energy of people committed to a mission. But so much of the material I read or the events I attend are designed as though the only people in the audience are in the organization’s top position.
The thing that makes these organizations run are teams. Not just a couple people at the top. If we acted as if those starting and running organizations were the real changemakers, and everyone else were a cog in the machine, what does that suggest? That the biggest impact gets made by having hundreds and thousands of “organizations” that really just consist of 1-2 people so everyone can be a founder or executive director?
Of course, everyone realizes how absurd that sounds when you say that out loud. Yet, when the world of philanthropy routinely hosts a bunch of gatherings, organizes networks, and invests only in those top roles, that’s kind of the structure we’re assembling.
I’m not saying we should have less of that for organization founders and executive directors. I think there should be more of that for everybody else.
Ultimately, that shift would be reflective of a bigger culture shift that I think needs to happen in the world of nonprofits, social investing, philanthropy, or whatever you want to call that space. We need to become less focused on finding heroes and more focused on creating communities.
I’ve seen a good number of organizations in recent years rise on the shoulders of their founder’s charisma, only to collapse under the weight of a personal moral failure. Ironically, that moral failure is often tied to the pressure they face in their role. A role described by many as a lonely one.
When I was a student, I absolutely loved the origin stories of some of my favorite organizations.
There was such a common pattern to them, they almost became a trope.
The founder is usually someone at a crossroads in their personal life. They go on some sort of trip to find themselves, and end up discovering some social issue when they get there. Trafficked children. A civil war. Intense poverty. They decide to do something to solve the problem and then, presto! Organization launched. Purpose found.
When I graduated college, it was easy to imagine my life following a similar path, which is why one of the places I ended up a few months afterwards was at a home for at-risk kids in a seedy South African neighborhood.
To sum up a few challenging, growing, and perspective-shifting weeks in one of my many takeaways, I came to better understand all the problems with trying to be a “hero” to a complex social crisis, and how often that creates more harm than good. I realized that there was no substitute for local leadership, or having years of experience working on the ground. And I learned that showing up consistently, day-after-day, is how real change happens.
I remember one mentor who told me, in reference to the work of stopping human trafficking, that everybody wants to be the action star who kicks down the door to the brothel. But none of that is happening without somebody who writes the grant applications to fund it. Or somebody who handles the travel logistics and financial documentation. And you’ll also want to make sure you have someone trained in trauma counseling who can handle aftercare.
Long story short, it takes a team.
If anybody is kind of in a similar position to where I was back then, I think the thing I’d want them to think through is to ask if you really need to be starting an organization or launching something, or if there are already people out there doing the work who you could join, team up with, or amplify in some way.
After all, what do we think would work better? 200 anti-trafficking organizations that are mostly the work of 1-2 people a piece? Or six anti-trafficking organizations with full teams, and team members who can really specialize in their area of expertise?
And imagine if those resources and networks were available not just to CEOs or founders, but to all kinds of roles found within a team? The relationship building fundraisers? The grant-writers who can take these dry forms and tell a story on them that compels? The people doing tech and engineering work for social impact organizations?
And guess what? This exists! For people in my kind of role, there’s the nonprofit storytelling conference, there are ways to meet others. Just imagine if there were even more. Imagine if there was more out there on how to lead from within. How to lead from behind. How to lead from a niche role. Because that’s what the majority of us will do.
One quick note- while I am in the habit of telling people to quit thinking they need to start everything from scratch and to look for the others, I do realize that there are a good number of people who, due to their gender or skin color or whatever else, might not be initially thought of as someone who could assume a top spot within an organization’s structure. Maybe because people don’t often see them in that way, they’ve learned not to see themselves that way. To people in that position, I might say, don’t let these ideas here lead you to be less of yourself. Just marry your pursuit of leadership to the following idea.
Creating change in the world should invite less hype around heroes and more focus on cultivating community.
I understand the appeal of having some people you can really look up to, and I certainly have a good amount of those figures. I think of Bryan Stevenson with the Equal Justice Initiative.
But just imagine if all the hoopla that we put into trying to win people over using personalities were redirected towards an atmosphere where people were welcomed. A place where other people could find their people.