Mapping Your Networks to Mine Valuable Resources

Resource
The Community Leadership Handbook

Contents
The Power of a Social Capital Map
Mapping Your Social Capital
    About this tool
    Option A: Individual exercise
    Option B: Group exercise
Conclusion
Where to Learn More

 

From Becky Andrews, Marketing Manager, Fieldstone Alliance

AFTER EXPLORING all possible options for reducing expenses and increasing revenues, many nonprofits are stymied—how can they survive this downturn? Every nonprofit has another valuable resource that they can tap—social capital. Positive, productive relationships represent social capital, which is just as important (well, almost as important) as money in the bank.

Social capital has been described as the resources available to people based on the networks their relationships give them access to.¹ Just as a skilled plumber knows how the water is piped throughout the house, a skilled nonprofit or community leader knows how social capital flows through their networks or community.

But, before you can develop strategies for mining your social capital, you need a clear picture of your organization's connections and networks. A good first step is to create a "social capital map." This issue of Tools gives you a process for doing that. The information is excerpted and adapted from pages 123-129 of The Community Leadership Handbook: Framing Ideas, Building Relationships, and Mobilizing Resources, by James F. Krile. Even though the book focuses on community leadership, the mapping process is just as useful for organizations and collaborations.

The Power of a Social Capital Map
In his book, Jim Krile cites the example of a school bond committee which was so effective that, in spite of many odds, it mobilized a city of 100,00 people to approve a bond referendum by a two-to-one margin. Critical to this success was a strategy that the committee used throughout the campaign: mapping its social capital.

At its initial meeting, the original committee members decided to identify and recruit new members—people who had a great deal of social capital with diverse networks in the community. This expanded committee met to analyze the social networks and ties that it had to other individuals and groups. This information was assembled into a chart called a social capital map.

Based on this analysis, committee members got “assignments” to get in touch with specific people. This effort allowed the committee to communicate its key messages directly to key groups of voters, pull together neighborhood meetings, and develop the volunteer pool for the “get out the vote” phone bank.

The committee members used the good relationships they had with others in the community as social capital. This gave credibility to their ideas and moved others to actively support the issue. In framing the bond issue and developing action strategies to get it approved, they also involved people in productive, respectful ways. This helped to build new relationships and strengthen old ones, adding to the supply of social capital.

Now, here's how your organization can map its social capital.

Mapping Your Social Capital

About this tool
This tool suggests ways to measure relationships in terms of strong ties and weak ties, discover the benefits and limitations of these ties, and analyze networks in terms of the strength of their ties. Relationships with high social capital are marked by

• Trust: the belief in and reliance on the honesty, integrity, and reliability of other people
• Reciprocity: a mutual, fair benefit from the relationship over time
• Durability: lasting over time through stress and changing circumstances

The concepts of strong ties and weak ties refer to relative degrees of trust, reciprocity, and durability. You can use these concepts to assess the strength of a relationship and its potential social capital. Mapping your group’s pattern of ties will help you access your current social capital and identify where to develop more social capital.

While it may be convenient to use strong ties, the resources needed for a community initiative to succeed usually require you to also use weak ties. Be careful not to underestimate the value of your weak ties.

Characteristics of strong ties
Relationships that are high in trust, reciprocity, and durability tend to produce strong ties. These ties often involve a high level of emotional investment in the relationship, as in I really like that person. We tend to "go to" people with whom we have strong ties for a wide variety of resources and support, often involving more than one aspect of our life. Strong ties are often associated with bonding social capital and tend to be formed with those with whom we have much in common.

Strong ties offer several benefits. For one, they are the easiest to tap. They also directly provide resources for a variety of needs, including the need for emotional support.

However, strong ties can have limitations as well. Because they are usually formed with people who are similar to us, strong ties tend to decrease our access to diverse knowledge, perspectives, or resources. And strong ties tend to provide links to networks that we can already access.

Characteristics of weak ties
Weak ties exhibit the following characteristics:

• They are formed in relationships that have lower levels of trust, reciprocity, and durability and tend to have little emotional investment
• We tend to “go to” those with whom we have weak ties for a specific resource to address a specific need
• They are often associated with bridging social capital and tend to be formed with those with whom we have fewer things in common
• Benefits include access to a greater diversity of knowledge and perspectives; access to a wider range of networks and their resources than you already have; and access to setting the groundwork for a broader base of support and sense of ownership for a community initiative
• Limitations include that they are harder to tap; they can usually be tapped only for specific, limited purposes; and they provide little emotional support
  

Mapping your social capital
The social capital mapping exercise that follows is designed to be done either by an individual (Option A) or by a group (Option B). Either option will help you create a “map” of your connections and networks—a table listing who you know, the type of tie you have to the person or network (strong tie or weak tie), and the resources that each person or network can access.

Option A: Individual exercise
Use this exercise to map your social capital in general, or to analyze your social capital with key stakeholders or potential partners for a specific community project.

Step 1. List the relevant groups and organizations
Use the following table for this step. In the first column (Group or Organization), list the groups and organizations with which you are linked. For example, you might be a member, serve on staff, or participate as a board member or volunteer. You might also do business with some of these groups or have a personal connection with their leadership.

If you are doing the exercise to map your general social capital as a nonprofit or community leader, be selective about the organizations that you list. Focus on those that play some sort of community role.

If you are doing this exercise to map your social capital for a particular initiative, list the groups or organizations that are most relevant to it. Include organizations inside and outside your community.

Step 2. Determine the strength of the ties
In column two, indicate groups with an S or a W:

S = Strong ties = higher levels of trust, reciprocity, and durability
W = Weak ties = lower levels of trust, reciprocity, and durability

Step 3. Determine the resources represented
In the Resources column, write down the resources that each group represents. Resources include money, information, votes, volunteers, and access to other groups and networks.

Step 4. Analyze the map
When your map is finished, analyze it by answering these questions:

1. What resources do your strong ties give you access to?
2. What resources do your weak ties give you access to?
3. Are there ties you want to strengthen? If so, how will you strengthen them?
4. Are there relevant groups with which you lack social capital (that is, they do not appear on your map)? How will you access the resources of these groups?
5. How can you leverage your ties to have access to more groups, organizations, and resources?

Step 5. Set next steps
After you've finished the analysis, identify how and when to use the results. Determine what actions you will take in response to the questions in the Analysis— especially how you will strengthen ties, build new ties, and leverage existing ties to increase social capital.

Group or Organization	Strength of Tie	Resources

Option B: Group exercise
You can use the same basic process described in Option A with a group. The group process is essentially the same, with the addition of an extra step to combine lists from individual members.

Option B can be used to map your group’s general social capital, though this may be a cumbersome process. You may find it more productive to map your group’s social capital for a specific initiative.

Step 1. List the relevant groups and organizations
Give each group member a copy of the social capital map and ask them to fill in the Group or Organization column. In this column, people should list all the groups with which they have a link as a general member, board member, staff member, volunteer, client, or customer. If any of your members have a personal connection with a group’s leaders, that group should also be listed here.

Step 2. Determine the strength of the ties
Ask each of your members, working individually, to complete the Strength of Tie column by writing an S or W:

S = Strong ties = higher levels of trust, reciprocity, and durability
W = Weak ties = lower levels of trust, reciprocity, and durability

Step 3. Determine the resources represented
Still working individually, each group member should now fill out the Resources column. Resources can include money, information, votes, volunteers, and access to other groups and networks.

Step 4. Combine the individual lists
For this step, display the combined social capital of your group members in a visual way. Some groups use a spreadsheet software program for this purpose. Others create a tally sheet on pieces of flip-chart paper hung side-by-side on a wall. Whatever technology you use, make the display large enough to be seen by the entire group.

The format that most groups use for their map is a grid with space to list each group member’s name in the left-hand column and groups or organizations across the top of the grid. For example:

	School	Lions	AARP	Hospital
Juan	S	W	S
Alice	W	W	S	S
Marty		W		W

This example does not have a column for resources, as that makes the grid unwieldy. However, your group will discuss resources in step 5.

The names of your group’s members can be filled in on the grid ahead of time. If you know some of the relevant groups that are very likely to be named, they can also be filled in on the grid before doing this step. Ask each group member to go the grid, and, in the row with their name on it, write an S to indicate organizations or groups with which they have a strong tie and a W for those with which they have a weak tie. If they have links with groups not already on the grid, they should add that group to the grid and indicate the strength of these ties.

You may wish to try some variations on this step:

• Create a large grid and then fill it in as a group. Ask each of your members to state the groups with which they are linked and the strength of each tie. Your facilitator can record this information on the grid.
• Use colored circles or squares to represent the strength of the ties—for example, red for strong ties and blue for weak ties.
• Fit this step into a meeting break. Group members can leave the room after writing their individual information on the grid.

Step 5. Analyze the map
When your map is finished, analyze it by answering these questions:

1. What resources do your strong ties give you access to?
2. What resources do your weak ties give you access to?
3. Are there ties you want to strengthen? If so, how will you strengthen them?
4. Are there relevant groups with which you lack social capital (that is, they do not appear on your map)? How will you access the resources of these groups?
5. How can you leverage your ties to have access to more groups, organizations, and resources?

Step 6. Set next steps
By completing and analyzing the social network map, your group will have a clear picture of

• Resources to which your ties provide access
• Where ties need to be strengthened
• Where ties need to be created
• Whom you are most likely to influence
• The people whom others in your group are most likely to influence

After your group has finished mapping social capital, discuss how and when you will use the results. Choose what actions you will take in response to the analysis questions in Step 5, especially how you will strengthen ties, build new ties, and leverage existing ties to increase social capital.

Conclusion
Leadership is about working with and through others. Social capital reduces the time and effort it takes to bring different groups together around an issue—an essential resource for getting things done. Social capital is like financial capital. You can draw on your account only if you have deposited something into it. Our ability to work together tomorrow depends a lot on how we treat each other today. Wise investors do not take their financial capital for granted. In the same way, wise nonprofit and community leaders do not take their social capital for granted.

 

Where to Learn More

Blandin Foundation
www.BlandinFoundation.org
The information in this newsletter and in The Community Leadership Handbook is based on the Blandin Foundation's Community Leadership Program.

Fieldstone Alliance
Free articles:
Three Keys to Being an Effective Community Leader
Stakeholder Analysis Tool: How to Understand, Influence, and Mobilize Your Constituents
Engagement Strategies: Making the Most of Working Together

Book:
The Community Leadership Handbook

Consulting services:
Fieldstone Alliance consultants help funders and nonprofits plan and navigate changes. We can help you understand your organization's core capabilities and business model, gain greater understanding of your market and competition, develop criteria to guide strategy decisions, and help you formulate and test strategies. For more information, please contact Sandy Jacobsen at 651.556.4510 or sjacobsen@FieldstoneAlliance.org.

Best regards,

Becky Andrews

August 5, 2009

 

¹ P. Adler and S.W. Kwon, Social Capital: Prospects for a New Concept (2000).

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