john anner

author, international development expert, fundraising strategist and avid explorer

Launching Thrive Networks

east meets west, international development, leadership, vietnamJohn AnnerComment

When the world changes, you have to change with it. Twenty-six years ago, Vietnam was just emerging from the dark years of socialist austerity and international isolation. Today, it is a development success story with a burgeoning middle class and a booming economy. Good for the Vietnamese people, but 26 years ago East Meets West was the only NGO game in town. Today, there are over 1,000 international organizations registered to work in the country. So we decided to re-launch East Meets West as Thrive Networks and seek our fortunes in the rest of the world (without leaving Vietnam behind, not by a long shot).

This was not an easy or quick decision; it took years of hard strategic planning work. But we started from the very beginning with a focus on transformation, not just change. We exhumed all our assumptions, aired out our values, cast a critical eye on favored programs, and looked out around the world to see what we thought was fresh, innovative, challenging and needed.

This led us to realize that a lot of innovation was happening in the rapidly-growing NGO sector, but most of these groups were really struggling to reach scale. We also came to believe that the era of helping low-income people with basic needs was over, and it was time to focus on low-opportunity individuals and communities and figure out ways to help them not just survive, but thrive. So we set up Thrive Networks to find great partners with innovative solution-oriented programs, and invite them to join with us to reach as many people as possible.

The board of directors voted in late 2013 to approve this strategy, and in February 2014 to change the name to Thrive Networks. This has led to a fantastic new organizational energy, with lots of new partners, three mergers completed, and more to come. We also learned a lot of lessons about how to do it right. Being a good American, as Churchill once noted, I try to do things correctly, but only after exploring every other option first. So we made some big mistakes along the way.

I'll share those in another post. And on Friday, our new website goes live -- with a big new section devoted to providing real insight into our performance. There is a lot to be proud of, but we don't shy away from telling the truth. Indeed, much of our work is now reviewed and verified by third parties.

Stay posted!

John

Breakthrough Performance #1: Introduction

organizational mgmt, east meets west, leadershipJohn AnnerComment

I have become increasingly obsessed with how social change organizations can achieve breakthrough – meaning how can they become powerful in effecting the social change that they want to see. I’ve also become discouraged at the way our sectors are structured, and the sources of financing available. At the end of the day, it’s only possible to be big and powerful if you can raise enough money – no matter if you are a for-profit company, and non-profit organization, or some hybrid form. Unfortunately, the sources of catalytic capital are few and few between, meaning that most social change organizations will languish in marginal obscurity for many years, never reaching escape velocity and changing the world.

Finding Local Partners in Development

John AnnerComment

To illustrate my point in this blog, we are going to do a little time-traveling and I’m going to tell some stories about myself. Here’s the point I intend to get across: Not all people deserve to be helped, and sometimes trying to help only makes things worse. Done incorrectly, efforts to make a difference create perverse incentives and corruption.

Integrity

east meets west, international developmentJohn AnnerComment

Every clan has its rituals and code of behavior. This is true of organizations big and small, from a girls softball team to a Rotary Club to any organized religion, and is just as characteristic of unconventional enterprises as it is of mainstream ones. The penalties for violating a code of behavior can be extreme – think of the IRA and “kneecapping,” where informants would have their knee caps shot off.  The prospect of a lifetime of disability and pain is a strong incentive not to talk to the authorities.

Diligence: The Glory in Creating Honey

John AnnerComment

So far this year, we’ve considered such virtues as patience and generosity, and now I want to turn my attention to diligence. Diligence is a characteristic of most successful people and groups; a diligent entity completes all tasks without complaining, finishes projects on time, over-delivers and under-promises, and understands that the life of an organization, just as for the people it comprises, is a long process and needs to be nurtured carefully.

Taking Values to Heart

John AnnerComment

Waking up after Tet is like arising on one of those days when you feel full of energy, electrified with possibility, and ready to go out and savor all the world has to offer.

The Vietnamese Lunar New Year is about change and renewal. The old is kissed goodbye, the new embraced, and everyone looks for signs that the coming months will bring good luck, prosperity, and opportunities to laugh and love.

What better time to start thinking about a new theme for my blog?