WokeOnPaperThe Nonprofit Ecosystem, From Outside
Everyone is collaborating with everyone. Somewhere, the grassroots NGO is still waiting.
The nonprofit sector has built a rich vocabulary around ecosystems and partnerships. There are donors, consultants, advisory boards, family philanthropies, corporate partners and large intermediary organisations.
These relationships can bring resources and expertise. But the ecosystem can also become a hierarchy, where organisations closest to communities have the least power over funding and decisions.
A healthy ecosystem should not only connect institutions with one another. It should shift power towards the people closest to the problem. Otherwise, collaboration risks becoming another word for a well-connected network.
