“Networks have tremendous power to drive social change. While networks offer oppor- tunities to advance the goals of foundations, they also demand a different type of relationship between funder and grantee. We are hoping ‘Investing Strategically in Social-Impact Networks: A Guidebook for Foundations’ will provide a blueprint for maximizing results.”
Lois DeBacker, Managing Director
Jessica Boehland, Senior Program Officer
The Kresge Foundation Environment Program
Purpose of the Guidebook
This guidebook provides a suite of frameworks, tools, examples, and ex- ercises to help funders, whatever their type of foundation, mission, and broad goals, to think and act strategically about investing in generative networks as a part of their overall approach, whether they are focused on a system in a community, a complex issue, a promising field of practice, or another target for social impact.
The guidebook is designed to help users to answer a set of strategic questions about investing in existing or new networks:
- What value can generative networks—a particular model for collective action—provide in advancing a funder’s strategy for achieving social-impact goals? Networks are not the same as other models of collective action—associations, member-based organizations, or alliances, to name a few. Nor are they a pana- cea, but they do offer particular advantages for tackling com- plex, “wicked” types of social problems.
- What are the best ways for funders to design investments in gen- erative networks and engage with network builders? Investing in networks isn’t the same as investing in organizations, so shaping the grantor-grantee relationships and expectations takes some new thinking.
- How can funders assess the effectiveness of networks? Some of the ways to discern a network’s condition and impact are similar to the clues for organizations—but some are not.
- How can funders help networks to develop financial resilience?Networks, like organizations, can become too dependent on a single funder, but there are ways to build a network’s resilience and diversify its sources of support.
Download PDF of “Investing Strategically in Social-Impact Networks”