SERVICES
We support sound network practice at every stage of a network’s development
Network Startup and Design
To a large extent, network building is a matter of design. We help organizers consider and address a core set of network start-up questions.
If you are in the beginning stages of organizing a network, you’ll need to agree on a shared purpose, clarify members’ value propositions, make decisions about the network’s membership and structure, and create the basic infrastructure for healthy network functioning and development.
Networks that are experiencing a major transition often benefit from revisiting this basic process.
Network Planning and Management
After start up, many social impact networks evolve, mature and become more complex. We offer advice to organizers who are wrestling with common network building challenges
This includes how to center equity in the internal processes of a network. As they evolve, networks generally need more “care and feeding,” including more elaborate infrastructure for communications and coordination as well as increased capacity to decide and carry through on network plans. Planning and management in networks looks different than it does in organizations.
We help practitioners develop plans that set a clear direction but also leave room for emergence and surprise.
Network Research and Evaluation
We design and implement network assessments that fit how networks develop and function. Network Impact leads the field in network evaluation and research on social impact networks.
The more funders and organizers learn about social impact networks – how they originate, what makes them thrive, and how they develop over time – the better they can grow networks that are relevant, sustainable and impactful.
Investing in Networks
Helping funders assess opportunities to invest in social impact networks. Funders who are exploring the potential of network approaches will need to address some important questions:
Where should they focus their investments?
What expectations should they have?
Who/what entities will they fund?
How will they evaluate the network’s progress and performance?
We provide advice about network practices that can benefit from a funder’s support at different stages of a network’s development.
