These days, many nonprofits are facing existential threats \u2014 including the loss of funding or tax-exempt status. Many organizations are turning to nonprofit networks for community, shared expertise, and a unified response to these challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Networks bring together people from organizations with diverse skills and perspectives, inspiring creative thinking and sparking opportunities to share resources for maximum impact. They also provide stability, moral support, and financial aid to leaders and organizations at the forefront of social change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Trump administration is using a divide-and-conquer strategy,\u201d says Robin Katcher, founder of Katcher Consulting.<\/a> Networks offer a way for nonprofits to band together and present a unified front. Nonprofit leaders can find networks by reaching out to peer organizations and donors or by searching databases including GuideStar<\/a> or Charity Navigator.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many networks do not charge membership fees. Others charge on a sliding scale: For example, the Southeast Climate and Energy Network<\/a> charges an annual fee of $50 for organizations with budgets under $150,000, and $2,500 for those with budgets over $5 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are a few valuable benefits of a nonprofit network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Often, philanthropic funding allows networks to provide services to members at little or no cost. That\u2019s a boon for leaders like Anthony Diaz, executive director of the Newark Water Coalition<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m so in the trenches,\u201d says Diaz, \u201cthat sometimes all I can see is the trench.\u201d But after joining the 190-member U.S. Climate Action Network<\/a>, Diaz can access technical, legal, and tactical expertise to supercharge his work at the local level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m so in the trenches that sometimes all I can see is the trench.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t have to be the expert in everything,\u201d says Diaz, \u201cbecause there are people in the network who have studied this or worked in these fields, so partnering with them makes our organization stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Partnerships within networks are a two-way street, which benefits larger, national organizations as much as frontline groups. Diaz\u2019s group is one of few organizations in the U.S. Climate Action Network that serves people directly, providing safe drinking water to those with lead-contaminated service lines. That connection provides invaluable insight into the concerns and needs of people at the community level \u2014 a perspective that is often lacking in policy circles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many networks provide grant support to their members as well. For example, when the Trump administration cut funding for climate-related work, the U.S. Climate Action Network stepped up with a rapid-response fund that provides small grants to member organizations and leaders. Those grants have been used to pay for rent, disaster assistance, and back-office functions like accounting and legal advice. While grants of $5,000 may not be enough to support an organization in the long term, they can serve as a critical stopgap until other funding sources can be secured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Networks cultivate a powerful sense of belonging and shared identity, which combats the isolation and burnout that can plague nonprofit organizations and leaders. For Analyah Schlaeger dos Santos, who serves as environmental-justice youth program director and global climate-justice coordinator for Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light<\/a>, the U.S. Climate Action Network is a \u201cmovement home,\u201d where members can \u201cget grounded and cover each other\u2019s backs and learn from each other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn difficult times, these connections are what sustain and propel the work forward,\u201d says Shamar Bibbins, managing director of the Kresge Foundation\u2019s Environment Program<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The community offered by networks is especially helpful for executive directors. Leading an organization can be isolating, says Melissa Gavin, CEO of RE-AMP,<\/a> a network of Midwestern climate groups. \u201cYou can\u2019t talk to your staff about everything that\u2019s going on, you can\u2019t always talk to your board about personnel issues, you can\u2019t talk about your angst around fundraising and making your budget.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n People can do almost anything as long as they feel they are not alone.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s why RE-AMP launched an executive directors\u2019 peer learning circle a few years back. Participants receive a stipend to hire an executive coach<\/a> and participate in monthly group calls. They also are assigned a partner who has confronted similar challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt keeps people in the movement and keeps people from burning out,\u201d says Gavin. \u201cPeople can do almost anything as long as they feel they are not alone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In times of crisis, networks serve as first responders. When Hurricanes Helene and Milton tore through five southern states a year ago, the Southeast Climate and Energy Network leveraged its contacts throughout the region and quickly raised more than $115,000 for disaster relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The network prioritized vulnerable groups that are often overlooked in traditional disaster-recovery efforts, re-granting to partners on the ground to support mutual-aid hubs. In hard-hit areas of western North Carolina, those funds provided hot meals, clean drinking water, and other essential supplies \u2014 as well as a mobile micro-grid for emergency power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Networks … enable our grantees to ideate, collaborate, and push the boundaries of innovation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Networks respond to political crises as well. When the first Trump administration sought to withhold green cards from immigrants who might require public benefits, advocates realized this \u201cpublic charge\u201d rule would discourage immigrant families from using benefits to which they were legally entitled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In response, the National Immigration Law Center<\/a> and the Center for Law and Social Policy<\/a> forged the Protecting Immigrant Families Coalition<\/a>: a network of immigrants\u2019 rights and antipoverty organizations. By combining expertise in both realms, the coalition has emerged as a powerful advocate for immigrant families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now spanning 44 states, the coalition brings together diverse constituencies: grassroots organizers, policy groups, lawyers, and service providers. Such varied perspectives allow the network to track developments in real time and respond quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNational networks are essential infrastructure and a core part of our grant-making strategy,\u201d says Bibbins of the Kresge Foundation. \u201cThey enable our grantees to ideate, collaborate, and push the boundaries of innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nTap into members’ expertise and build partnerships.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Build community around a cause.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
CEOs can find peers to serve as sounding boards.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Access immediate aid during a crisis.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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