Linkpost as I am mostly writing on substack now.
TL;DR:
NGOs have a unique advantage over for-profits in their ability to cooperate and build common goods, yet few fully leverage "ecosystem thinking." This approach extends beyond an organization's direct impact to consider the entire field's health. Effective ecosystem actors: 1) actively build and connect movements by supporting newcomers and making strategic introductions; 2) practice radical transparency about both successes and failures; and 3) share abundance (office space, funding opportunities, and talent) even when it doesn't directly benefit them. The goal should be solving problems, not growing individual organizations. This cooperative approach often creates impact far greater than the sum of individual efforts.
This is a linkpost for https://measuredlife.substack.com/p/solving-problems-not-building-empires
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Great post. Do you know whether GiveWell (or any other org doing evaluation) accounts for the extent to which NGO's are doing this when assembling recommendations? While being aware of ecosystem thinking seems important, having incentives for acting in accordance with it could be even more so.
I see a huge opportunity here for university group organizers to connect promising group members with (AIM incubated or other) charities that could use volunteers. It builds motivation, connections and a CV for the student even if it's not ideal for the charity for the same reasons that volunteering rarely is. If we can make it mutually beneficial then all the better!