How Can A Social Change Agency Make A Difference To My Organization?

Many nonprofit organizations are under the impression that when you become a social change agent, you go from being a follower to a leader. That is a myth. A social change agency has no role in how members see themselves as leaders or as followers. You are an actor and your role is defined by your contract with the organization.

The contract establishes the scope of your activities and the responsibilities of being a member of the organization. It also describes what you can and cannot do. In order to engage in the many social change activities that are essential to building a better world for future generations, you need to understand your role and not define it with overly broad terms. A social change agency would be happy to provide you with advice on this issue, but not initiate this discussion.

There are some nonprofits that say they have members who engage in change activities. However, these people are not change agents. They are not part of the plan of action and are not really part of the solution to improving the conditions of the people who live in poverty and in other developing countries. These people come to these organizations with the assumption that being part of the nonprofit organizations means that they will be able to make a difference and that they will be beneficiaries of the activities of the nonprofit organizations.

Nonprofit organizations are engaged in change for different reasons. At times the change agents are motivated by religious conviction, at other times they are part of a volunteer organization that gets involved when it is convenient for them. No matter what the reason, change agents are not change agents when it comes to the society at large. They are actually the problem when it comes to the failure of the societies to address social problems and the root causes of poverty.

As a social change agency, your responsibility is to explain to members of your organization why it is necessary to change things. You cannot motivate them when you do not first explain why change is necessary. Give your members an understanding of how your organization works so that they will understand why you need to change things and how you can get started. If you have already given the pieces of the puzzle to your members then they will be much more likely to get involved in your activities.

Give members responsibilities that they can handle themselves. You can assign one person to be in charge of doing anything that has to be done regarding the group. You can also let them have more than one person working on the projects that you have for the organization. Let them know that the purpose of the organization is to change the lives of the poor in society. Tell them that in order to reach this goal, they have to work together as a team and they have to work effectively together.

Give your members' skills in areas that you feel they are weak in. For instance, you can develop leadership training courses for your members. You have to determine the skill that your members have in dealing with people, developing relationships, managing time and budget, as well as other skills. These training classes can be taught individually or in teams depending on the needs of your organization.

Get involved in the community. This way you can make your own changes to the organization that you want to see implemented. As an example, you can attend community organization meetings and listen to what the residents of the area are thinking about the issues that they are facing. By becoming part of the local community you can gain support from the residents and the businesses that they patronize.