Frequently Asked Questions

 

What Is FutureLab?

FutureLab is an online forum where members of the nonprofit and philanthropic community can help envision a more dynamic and powerful future.

The goal: To generate, share, and develop ideas that have the potential to strengthen the sector at large and increase our individual and collective impact. FutureLab is a place to leverage our sector’s collective intelligence and mobilize our best energies towards a brighter future.

Your participation: By joining the conversation, you will be able to share and get feedback on your ideas and contribute to the sector’s collective thinking. Your insights and input are invaluable to this effort.

How the information will be used: This conversation can be useful to all organizations -- leaders across the sector can provide and find insights that can inform planning and decision making within all types of organizations. We hope the ideas generated here will present new opportunities and inspiration for future work.

Click here for more information about FutureLab.

What Is My Role/How Do I Participate?

1. Discuss and Improve Existing Ideas
   You can further develop ideas already on the site by adding comments, probing questions, or challenges. This is your opportunity to re-examine assumptions, reframe old problems, and offer insight on the impact of emerging issues.
   
2. Post a New Idea
   The content that has been posted may spark a new idea for you, or maybe you have been thinking about something for a while that you would like to pose to a larger audience. The discussion topics listed are intended as a starting point: you can add new ideas to existing the existing nine discussions or visit the "Coffeehouse" to add an idea unrelated to those nine topics. Your idea is important, whether it is 5 words or 5 paragraphs. You decide what matters.
3. Vote on Ideas
   This is the easiest and fastest way to add input. As you read through the posted ideas, give each a rating of 1-5 stars (5 being the highest). This input will, in conjunction with other user feedback, allow the most innovative and transformative ideas to rise to the top.

What Are the Criteria for Ideas and Comments?

1. Relevant to the broad nonprofit community. Please focus on raising questions and offering ideas about the role of civil society and the operations of charitable organizations as a whole, rather than on individual organizational needs or specific mission-related issues, such as education, environment, or health care.
2. 10-year time horizon. This conversation is aimed at the long term. The goal is to move beyond the now and think BIG!
3. Pushes our collective thinking. We need to elevate the discussion above “the usual conversations”. Please post ideas that will challenge assumptions, break down existing barriers, and require us all to expand our networks and expectations.
4. No solicitations or derogatory comments. Comments that are deemed to be solicitation requests, destructive, profane, or derogatory will be removed.

Examples of productive contributions	Examples of less useful contributions
Sector-wide, expansive and broad ranging impact	Narrow focus; relevant only to one mission area (health, education, environment or other subsector communities) or geographic area
Transcend organizational or personal needs	Organization-specific, pet-peeves
Advance the common good	Destructive, negative or derogatory
Collaborative and expansive; build relationships	Solicitations for funding; advertising products or services
Long-term, 10-year goals	Short term, not future-oriented
Challenge norms, new, and BIG thinking	Repetitive of past efforts

Other Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Who can participate in the conversation?
A: Everyone over the age of 18 is invited . The conversation is targeted towards people affiliated with nonprofits and/or foundations in a variety of ways, including as a staff member, board member, volunteer, or donor, as well as individuals from the government or business community who work with the sector.

Q: Can I post more than one idea?
A: Yes! You are encouraged to post as much and as often as you’d like. After you post an idea, you are able to subscribe to receive updates about that idea via email, which will help remind you to return to the site and view how your idea has evolved as others respond and allow you to refine it further.

Q: How will the online discussion be moderated?
A: This is an open forum. All participants are contributors as well as moderators, helping to keep the discussion on track and the ideas constructive. All comments will immediately be published online. Solicitations and comments that are derogatory or offensive will be removed.

Q: Where did these discussion topics and ideas come from?
A: Independent Sector convened a StrategyLab in July 2009 that brought together 76 diverse leaders to discuss the future of the nonprofit and philanthropic community. The discussion topics and background information developed at that event serve as a starting point for the FutureLab. Click here to learn more about the StrategyLab.

Q: How will the ideas be used?
A: Members of the nonprofit and philanthropic community are encouraged not only to review the content posted during this discussion, but to draw on relevant insights to inform their own planning and decision making. Independent Sector, the organization hosting this conversation, will produce a summary of highlights that will be made available to nonprofits and foundations. Independent Sector may also identify ideas from the conversation to pursue as part of its ongoing work.

Q: Who has ownership of my ideas?
A: The ideas posted on this site are broadly available to others; all postings become public information. Please keep this in mind when deciding what to post. See the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use agreement for more information.