Five common pitfalls of ‘Helping Hubs’
Many of our clients are what we consider “Helping Hubs” -- national or state-level nonprofits, associations, or other mission-minded membership organizations. They provide teams doing on-the-ground work in food security, academic achievement, or philanthropy with higher-level support, and are typically a degree removed from direct service
These hubs are populated with people who have often moved up the ranks from member organizations and now serve as guides for a greater network. They are amazing and some of our very favorite people on the planet.
Despite stellar staff and the best intentions, many Helping Hubs suffer similar pitfalls, no matter the social issue they’re trying to solve. Here’s what we often see:
Waiting until something is finished before they show it. We get it, you have a reputation to uphold, and you want to let your banana bread bake to the perfect magazine-worthy brown before you let anyone turn on the oven light and peek in. Unfortunately, too often organizations proudly present their “bread” (i.e. new program, org chart, etc.), and it turns out everyone was expecting muffins. We encourage a more iterative process that leans into collaboration and co-creation.
Putting all their money in the cart, but forgetting to invest in the horse. (Not that we’re calling anyone a horse!) When launching a new resource they may spend 98% of the time and budget building the new thing and 2% helping people adopt it. As a result, that fancy toolkit never gets used, or the database is rarely accessed. We encourage organizations to think of more of a 70-30 split. Remember: Your finish line on a project is often your members’ starting point!
Attempting to address network needs without actually asking about network needs. This is the double-edged sword of having a staff that comes from the field. They’ve been there. They know how busy people are. But in our ever-evolving communities, some of that previous experience has an expiration date. Or what might have worked in your home community doesn’t apply as well in a different time zone. We encourage embracing the principles of human-centered design to identify and solve problems.
Feeling like they need to do everything for everyone instead of letting them help each other. If you’re lucky, you have a couple of expert-level knowledge brokers at your organization, and everyone in the network has their emails and phone numbers. They’re incredible assets. And they are going to get burnt out. We encourage organizations to lean into the knowledge of leaders throughout the network by creating opportunities for cross-pollination and peer support.
Presuming that friction to new things means resistance. Anyone who’s ridden a bike knows the difference between friction and resistance. You might be switching from pavement to gravel road. Recognizing the friction, you can put a little extra effort in or shift gears. It’s totally different than squeezing the brakes. We encourage organizations to embrace facilitative techniques to investigate the source of the friction and look for ways to move forward.
If these pitfalls sound like they are plaguing your organization, you’re not alone. Book a discovery session with our team. We can partner to help address any of the above.