Tech’s Power to Mobilize Masses Comes at a Cost, Diana Aviv Says

Technology’s power to rapidly mobilize swarms of individuals for social causes -- bypassing traditional institutions like religious organizations and established charities -- poses significant new problems for the nonprofit world, said Diana Aviv, chief executive of Independent Sector. "When their particular interest has been fulfilled or their passion has diminished, whichever one comes first, they disband and there is no social capital that’s built," Aviv said.

It is one of a number of major challenges facing nonprofits, gleaned from more than a year of Independent Sector-led research, detailed by Aviv. The research is a 15-year view into the future, Aviv said, with changes coming so fast that nonprofits ignore them at their peril. Independent Sector is hitting the road to share the findings and solicit additional input from its members and others at a series of meetings across the country in the coming months. The first is scheduled for March 24 in New York City.