What Do You Do When Working With A Social Change Agency?Posted by Egelund Erickson on July 18th, 2021 A Social Change Agency can be a wonderful resource for your community. It can help lead you to greater equality and justice. However, the type of social change we are talking about here are not usually the types of changes that bring about real change in someone's life - we are talking about the changes in attitude or perspective. The goal of a social change agency is to empower people to make their own decisions based on the information that is available to them, not because someone else tells them that they must. For example, consider the work of a nonprofit organization called ACT. ACT has helped millions of people over the years to gain access to higher quality healthcare. In the process, many members have discovered that social change is more than just saving money for themselves - it is saving their entire communities. While it may be true that a large portion of social change efforts take place within the governmental sector, nonprofit organizations can play a critical role in ensuring that justice is truly served. This can only happen when leaders within nonprofits make the decision to take on the various forms of social change that are available to them. What is the difference between a nonprofit organization and a for-profit organization? Well, first off, the word "not for profit" does not appear once in the term "social change." Secondly, there is a certain amount of thought leadership development required for change initiatives to be successful. Although some forms of change do not require such development, others do. Thirdly, nonprofits have their own unique culture. These members tend to value the opinions of others who have come before them, especially those who have had meaningful experiences in similar situations. A social change agency must therefore look beyond their own organization to gain perspective from people who are not members of the organization. Such people might be able to offer first hand knowledge about being an effective change agent. It is not always easy to change one's behavior, but the change agency should never underestimate the ability of an individual to bring about change through their actions. A change agency also must seek out people who already have noteworthy success within the community - something that the organization itself may not be capable of accomplishing. The organization needs to consider hiring the services of a change manager. The next thing that a change agency needs to look into is its own perspective on how it should go about change. Sometimes, this comes in the form of a formal organizational charter that outlines the ways in which the organization must carry out its missions and work. However, sometimes this comes in the form of a vision statement that outlines the mission and how it sees change impacting the organization. The charter and vision statement must be shared with key members of the organization so that they have a clear understanding of the purpose behind their roles and the direction that the organization is headed. Once these two pieces of information have been determined, the organization must then establish its own framework for change and set specific benchmarks for success. The framework should include metrics that can measure different aspects of the organization and provide a platform for measuring progress toward the organizational goal. The benchmarks are meant as a benchmark against which the agency must strive to compare its performance over time. This will provide a clear view of where the agency is today compared to where it wants to be. Next, the change agent should develop plans and tactics for implementing change. These plans should include not only the elements of the plan itself but also the timeline for when those elements will come into play. If the plan is to affect large numbers of people, the change agent should consult with a workforce and training manager to ensure that there is enough labor to deal with the increased work load. This ensures that changes are effective and does not leave the people employed in the situation feeling under-utilized. The change agent should develop a benchmarking system based on measurable things. These should be long-term goals that are part of the organization's larger mission and vision. Those benchmarks should be reviewed periodically to determine whether or not they are still relevant, whether people are responding to them and to see if the measures being used are effective. If the measurements are being used, they should be validated. A social change agency should use both quantitative and qualitative metrics in order to be most effective in its endeavors.Like it? Share it! More by this author |