I think most non profit organizations by definition have a learning culture embedded in the organization. In the non profit sector, organizations are constantly under pressure to stay financially stable.  Employees are often  living in a constant state of stress and instability due to short term funding contracts. It’s only natural that the organization’s disposition towards fostering a learning culture ethos starts to erode.

Working in the non profit field, particularly within youth and community development sectors, I had many opportunities to feel part of a learning culture. My earliest understanding of working within a learning culture was recognizing that my personal success and my projects success was dependent on having a strong relationship network of colleagues working with you and a network of organizations that were also committed to the issues your organization was addressing.

I also understood that my success was intrinsically linked to how well I remained open to learning from those that my organization was serving, be they street youth, people experiencing homelessness, newcomers or the unemployed. Now that I am firmly embedded in the social media consulting sector (primarily with non profits) I’m recognizing those same qualities are the corner stones of social media – relationships, openness to learning and networks.

In discussions with non profit leaders (Executive Directors or Board members) I often get mixed messages. On one hand, many leaders express a clear understanding that they must transform their organization into a social non profit – opening up their organization internally and externally so they can empower their staff and build stronger, sustainable relations with their stakeholders and consumers.

That said, many leaders tell me they can’t go down this road now because of funding constraints and concerns related to: finding time to learn new communication tools; trusting your staff to speak appropriately about the organization in  their online communications; how to publish web content for a variety of readers and most importantly how to connect online with consumers and learn from them.

The list goes on. I believe the end result for choosing not to change is that the organization will continue to lose relevance and distances itself from its staff, its supporters, donors and users.

One way to look at the challenges faced by non profits is to see the situation from the perspective of individual and organizational learning.

Learning Culture Audit

As a practitioner or as a leader in a non profit organization, the importance of continuous learning  cannot be understated. With social media, staff are already at the forefront, using emerging tech tools to learn, connect, collaborate and share. The proliferation of social media across all demographics and sectors presents an opportunity for leaders to re-think how they serve their staff through the fostering of an internal learning culture.

Marcia Conner is an international renowned author and a Fellow with the Altimeter Group and writer with the Fast Company magazine along with many more professional affiliations. She describes social learning as learning with and from others. Marcia also talks about social learning as participating with others to make sense of new ideas.

In the introduction section of her new book, The New Social Learning – A Guide For Transforming Organizations Through Social Media, Marcia and co-author Tony Bingham states

“the new social learning reframes social media from a marketing strategy to a strategy that encourages knowledge transfer and connects people in a way consistent with how we naturally interact. Social learning leads to more informed decision making and a more intimate, expansive and dynamic understanding of the culture and context in which we work.

Marcia and Tony’s book is helping me see how social learning is so intrinsically connected to social media technologies. Working smarter is another term used by members of the Internet Time Alliance in  their writing about social learning. I’m following the work of the Alliance very closely as I continue learning and developing my ideas about “the social non profit”.

Marcia developed many assessments for various books and organizations. In her book, Creating a Learning Culture: Strategy, Technology and Practice she included a “Learning Culturet Audit“.

The audit is a simple list of questions that asks “Hows Your Learning Culture”. I think the audit can provide any organization an opportunity to examine their learning culture and possibly fuel a productive internal dialogue within the organization.

You can go to the link and then download the one page Learning Assessment Audit (PDF). There are instructions on Marcia’s web page that explain reproduction expectations.

Related Posts:

The Social Non Profit: Working Smarter With Social Tech

Working Smarter – My New Lens: The Social Non Profit

Putting Social Into Social Services – My Take

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