I want to make this really simple for folks. Because it is a concept that is actually really simple, and because understanding it can make a huge difference with respect to how you view your organization, and how much agency you feel over generating resources for your organization.

Organization has a root word: organ. So does organism. This shared root is not accidental. In this case, and organ is an entity with a specific function.

You are an organism, and inside your body you have organs. Your lungs are meant to do something different than your heart is. But they both work together.

Organizations are similar. The development department does something very different than the marketing department, but they work together with other departments and staff members and roles to further the overall mission of the organization.

Mapping your Ecosystems

When looking at an Organization as existing in an ecosystem, we are looking at two different ecosystems.

The first is an internal ecosystem composed of various staff, the board, members, students, and other stakeholders who are already actively engaged in the work of the organization.

The second is the external ecosystem of the community in which the organization exists. That could include nearby businesses, other organizations who interact with or do similar things as yours, potential students/clients/members, funders, etc.

Similarly to natural ecosystems the different stakeholders in the internal and external organizational ecosystems exchange resources, information and services between one another.

These stakeholders and resource flows can be drawn out physically as a diagram or map.

In a natural ecosystem, the health of that ecosystem can be measured by the extent to which the exchange of resources is reciprocal, or can be said to exist inside a 'closed loop'. I scratch your back, you scratch mine.

Examples of closed loops in a natural ecosystems

Example 1

• A human being breathes in oxygen, and exhales (as waste) carbon dioxide.
• At the same time, trees and other plants are 'breathing' in carbon dioxide, and 'exhaling' oxygen.

This exchange can be said to exist in side of a closed loop.

This loop doesn't have to be direct.

Example 2

Let's take the case of a mulberry tree, and bird, and the soil (which is a whole community of a lot of micro-organisms).

• A bird eats the mulberries from the tree, and as she is eating them passes the digested mulberries onto the ground (and into the soil) as waste.
• We say "yuck", but the micro-organisms in the soil say "yummy", and they eat the waste of the bird, and in turn create their own waste.
• Which is lucky for the Mulberry tree, because it's roots cannot uptake the waste from the birds directly. They have to be eaten, digested and excreted as waste by the micro-organisms before their little root hairs can absorb them.

Without these closed loop exchanges, an ecosystem cannot sustain itself.

Closed Loops in an Organization

Let's say you have a non-profit organization called 'Urban Youth Works' that serves inner city youth by teaching them job skills. The money you receive is primarily from government grants, private foundations, and individual donors. None-the-less, your organization is struggling to meet it's basic needs. You have been looking for new funders and more money, but have not been very successful at that.

What can be done?

Let's take a look at the services you are already providing.

You give information, training and resources to young people in the inner city. This training is geared at having youth understand the needs of businesses so that they can become effective employees.

As a natural result of that exchange, these young people have better chances for earning a decent income, and become less susceptible to getting involved with drugs and crime.

If you are looking at yourself as a member of an ecosystem in which you are struggling to thrive, you will see that the services you are providing the youth, are trickling down to the neighborhood and the local businesses, organizations, and residences in that neighborhood.

Right now, although you are aware of these particular fruits of your labor, your community may not be.

More so, it has not occurred to you that a part of your organization's income might very well come from these members of your ecosystem who benefit more from your work than do the government, foundations, and individuals who you are currently getting funding for.

BINGO

What we have just done, is mapped a small portion of your organizations resource flows, and as a result have found a potential funding source that had not been previously considered.

But it doesn't stop there.

In order for your community to be aware of the asset that your organization is to them, they have to become aware of it.

But how?

Again, the answer lies in looking at the resource flows.

Right now, you are giving away valuable resources to hundreds of youth (part of your internal ecosystem) who currently do not give anything directly back to you, or to the community. If mobilized strategically, they will be able to unlock more resources in your immediate community than your development department.

Mobilizing your Assets: what if...

What if, during the programs or training projects that you engage the youth with, you created partnerships with different local businesses and organizations where the youth had to 'intern' with a local organization or business on a specific project. These projects could consist of anything from researching and sourcing a new point of sales system for a local bakery, to organizing internal documentation for a non-profit organization into an employee manual, to creating a new system of organization for food storage shelves at a local restaurant. Business owners all have projects that they need done when they get a minute, and somehow that time never makes itself apparent. This is your opportunity to partner with them.

As a result of this partnership, the youth you are working with will get practical work experience, the businesses you are working with will get valuable help, and you will have an opportunity and entry point into asking for money from that business to support your services.

But it doesn't just have to be THAT business. At this point, the word is out.

What if as part of their training, they also had an opportunity to organize and activate a community improvement project. This might be the clean up of a local park, in which case the youth would create and distribute fliers that advertise it, solicit donations of materials, trash bags, and tools from local businesses, and create a big sign for the day of and beyond that says: "The clean up of this park was organized and completed by 'Urban Youth Works'.

Bingo again. The people in your community are noticing, and their willingness to open their pocket books in exchange is far greater than it was before.

Mapping Works

It works in large part because instead of going over the same issues in your mind over and over again, you are objectifying it on paper, and are able to see a birds eye view that was not accessible before.

When you view the resource flows from this perspective, it becomes very apparent which of them is not working.

To find out more, fill out the contact form or email me directly at ana(at)jellobrain.com.