02/23/2010

Decentralization and Sustainability

Moneythink is a college organization. Compared to the giant, timeless organizations out there, we have extremely high volunteer and leadership turnover. We're run by college students, which, while enthusiastic and smart, inevitably lack credibility. College student schedules change quarterly/semester-ly as well, which makes coordination a special challenge. All of these issues pose significant roadblocks to the sustainability of our organization.

We address each in the most effective way we see possible at the time...but we've been forced to look into the future as well. Moneythinkers in Chicago and around the country want this program to have thriving nodes everywhere in 10, 20, 50 years. So how do we do that?

Alcoholics Anonymous may have the answer. While it may not have the greatest connotation, AA is an example of a successful, decentralized, sustainable, community driven organization that operates high-impact, focused programs around the world--essentially what Moneythink aims to do. AA is largely able to do this because of its prepackaged nature. Anybody passionate individual, anywhere in the country, can join/start an AA chapter with a bit of training and resources.

We want to automate the process for chapter presidents (current and aspiring) to visit our website, download materials, watch videos on how-to-start/run a program and its various components effectively. We want to provide a platform for the Moneythink community to interact and communicate within itself without needing full-time central leadership. For Moneythink programs, dependency on the central chapter hinders large-scale, long-term sustainability. 

We're working every day to make this process more turnkey.

If you have ideas, feedback, or comments, just post here on this blog or send a message to tgonder@moneythink.org.

Post by Ted Gonder

Feb 23, 2010 10:12:48 PM

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