Networks and Advocacy

Today, policy and social change advocates are more interested than ever in the new ways to connect to the hidden power of networks in order to move an issue or drive a campaign.  Networks can be used to distribute messages and collect donations. Networks are increasingly being tapped to distribute workload, perform research, develop messaging and manage broader and complex tasks.

Advocacy leaders at all levels of nonprofits, coalitions and foundations understand that the volunteers and staff who they work with can coordinate increasingly complex and far reaching campaigns. These new campaigns reach beyond what most leaders could even have imagined just five years ago. 

Green Media Toolsheds' Netcentric Campaigns division provides our partners with the necessary understanding and support to help advocates the advocacy community understand, build and lead networks to create social change. 
 

Vision:

A movement consists of the people ”in motion” working to create a shift in culture and policy on an issue.  At Netcentric Campaigns and Green Media Toolshed, we do not focus on activating the bystanders but our mission is to more effectively engage those that are working to create deliberate social, policy and culture shifts for a cause.

Our roll is not focused on inspiring people to move. We do not initiate campaigns to move people off the couch or to engage. We do not craft messages, media campaigns, policies or  ads.  We do not do science research or buy special places.
At Netcentric Campaigns and Green Media Toolshed we focus on networking. We are interested in exploiting culture, technology and workforce connectivity to organize the movement in new networked ways to achieve better policy results and better society and culture.

We focus on teaching allied operatives how to use these networks to create change. We develop strategies to find and connect the leaders and the followers, the staff, the dedicated volunteers, the funders and those that are only interested in giving 10 minutes to a cause. We looks for ways to build new intentional networks focused on change and plug more powerful advocacy strategy into organic networks.

No matter what motivates participants, no matter how or where the participants in these networks get ”into motion, no matter who much or how little these participants want to contribute, we look at the broader network effect of participation. We know that the competition among groups to get particpants active is a good thing. It is good that local, small, large and national groups all message and work to move people into action.  It is a trend and competition that can not likely be stopped and should not be stopped. 

Our mission is to solve the resulting fragmentation and isolation that keeps the many dispersed parts from building unified and reinforcing momentum toward productive results.  Our mission is to help these networks collaborate and synchronize in powerful ways on more meaningful and increasingly complex tasks. Our mission is to help movements understand the evolution toward this more network- centric advocacy.

Our work:

• Help advocates understand the current context for organizing and the opportunity it represents.
• Help advocates think through new approaches to advocacy and update organizing strategies and skills for the age of  connectivity.
• Show advocates the new structures they must  focus on in order to leverage the power of networks as mechanisms to drive social change.
• Support progressive allies in reshaping their networks and better leveraging the networks they operate within  to create social and environmental change.

Services

The staff of Netcentric Campaigns and Green Media Toolshed work towards our goals in tight partnership with clients.  Just as there may be a perfect organizational profile and organization size and ideal organization capacity to accomplish every nonprofit mission, there is also an ideal network configuration needed to implement each campaign.   Our work focuses on helping our partners understand and shape their networks to achieve the change they seek.

We work on a variety of long and short term projects. We conduct a variety of network training including one-on-one coaching, speaking engagements, custom trainings, webinars and workshops.  We conduct and design network research. We also engage with clients as network consultants to provide ongoing strategic services and/or project support.

Netcentric Campaigns provides these consulting, training and research services both to strengthen understanding of networks and help our allies work with others in a more networked way.