Forget social networks. Forget hierarchical organizations. Forget conflict between online and off. Forget organizations with one “leader.” The explosion of the Internet, social media, Millennials, and maybe even our human condition--all of it, has been actually leading to this: the rise of the network.

I’ve been obsessed with networks for almost ten years. When I was twenty-four, I was National Director of the Roosevelt Institute Campus Network, a chapter-based think tank and advocacy organization for young people.My peers were wringing their hands over the best way to get new, younger donors, or report an engagement stat more meaningful than a Facebook ‘like.’ I wasn’t. At the time, my peers running other nonprofits were struggling to get folks to even open their emails. Or encourage their followers to actually show up at events. They were wringing their hands over the best way to get new, younger donors, or report an engagement stat more meaningful than a Facebook ‘like.’

I wasn’t. We had Millennials opting into spending the equivalent of a part time job volunteering for our cause at their campus, starting their own chapters, spending their weekends pouring over programming, writing, organizing, and taking it upon themselves to recruit as many of their friends as possible to join. At our annual retreat, young people from all over the country were showing up in droves, even some that hadn’t RSVP’d. They flooded in, excited, eager, chanting regional chants they’d written themselves. A couple groups were literally wearing our organization’s mission statement on their t-shirts.

And they were making a real difference in their communities. We had built a highly productive, high impact community of people connected in purpose, that scaled the best ideas faster, maintained high engagement, retained and recruited better, and connected folks for the long-term to a brand we co-created. We’d built a best-in-class network. A sneak peek of what’s possible. A network that was distributed in both infrastructure and leadership, blowing people away in the process.

Now at NationBuilder, where we’re working with 8,000+ organizations worldwide, our customers are demonstrating in real-life what all the data on this proves: my experience running a network was not unique. Networks are the future. Organizations all over the world are catching onto the trend and building maximally effective, fully-realized networks for the internet age.

Today, hierarchical organizations alone aren’t getting it done. Modern networks that truly distribute leadership to their members have an ‘x’ factor that amps up innovation and improves the bottom line. Networks allow you to crowdsource ideas by watching your supporters lead, then scale that programming or messaging across your organization. They facilitate unprecedented scale, by letting local leaders start chapters and expand your footprint. And, networks build deep community among your supporters that translates into loyal engagement for the long-term. Just a 10% increase in supporter loyalty translates to a 200% increase in the lifetime value of an organization’s donors, so this isn’t just about warm fuzzies.^.1

Organizations that distribute leadership across their networks never produce programming their supporters don’t care about, because programming is informed by those supporters. They never waste money and time convincing people to engage with them, because chapter leaders are doing (the much more effective work) of engaging folks, peer to peer, on the ground. And nine out of ten Americans are more likely to take an action based on a friend’s referral vs. traditional marketing.^.2 Not to mention, since about 5% of customers are responsible for 100% of your organization’s ever-important word of mouth, providing local leaders with the tools and space they need to lead chapters, and advocate on your behalf really pays off.^.3

And this is their moment! Millennial consumers and donors, who every company or organization is intent on recruiting, want to join a network. We want to participate and be consequential in the causes and companies we care about most.^.4 Instead of just reading a static webpage, you want to comment, right? Shape the agenda! Step up and lead. Millennials are also community-oriented.⁵  They volunteer at higher rates than past generations and are civically engaged, so local chapters are really compelling.^.6 In-person interactions also increase identification with a group and the people in it, helping to retain members and inspire them to recruit others. #NetworkForTheWin.

But running a network is really hard. Historically, networks--including nonprofit chapters, alumni clubs, associations, unions, political parties, even presidential campaigns--have struggled to realize all the awesome benefits of their structure, because of fragmented data and unavoidable communication gaps. Running a network meant having to choose between the chaos that comes with innovative, engaged chapters that have the freedom to lead, and the central control that helps HQ maintain its brand and data, but chokes off a network’s creativity and growth.

Those days are officially over. The internet has greased the skids and unlocked unprecedented potential for any network that wants to take advantage of the opportunity, and with none of the challenges that running a distributed organization presented in the past. Organizations can sync data across chapters in real-time, define parameters for branding, and provide chapters best-in-class tools to lead.  Software to lead networks is making them more accessible, more high-impact, and more essential than ever.

In short, this is a take-down of hierarchical organizations. Networks are coming to capture the loyalty, donations, and engagement of your (would be) customers, donors and supporters. They can use tech to overcome chaos and unlock the unprecedented power, scale, impact, and loyalty that only a network today can provide. And the best ones distribute leadership to grow, innovate, capture hearts and minds, and redefine what’s possible within an organization. If you have chapters, this is the moment to unlock their potential. And If you don’t, it’s time to ask what might be possible if you did.

<sup>1. Redefining loyalty - how to improve Lifetime Value by over 105% without increasing spend — Institute of Fundraising, November 22, 2013
2. Global Trust in Advertising and Brand Messages — Nielsen, April 10, 2012
3. Study: Only 4.7% of a brand’s fan base generate 100% of its social referrals — SocialMediopolis
4. Winograd, Morley., and Michael D. Hais. Millennial Momentum: How a New Generation Is Remaking America. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2011.
5. The Blueprint for the Millennial America — Roosevelt Institute
6. Winograd, Morley., and Michael D. Hais. Millennial Momentum: How a New Generation Is Remaking America. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2011</sup>