Giving 2.0™ Guide: Ecosystem Mapping

Overview

Every social issue has a complex external context that philanthropists and social changemakers must understand. Mapping and assessing the organizations, individuals, policies and socio-economic environment of the problems you aspire to solve and systems you strive to improve is a critical step on your journey to effect social change. An ecosystem map is a visual representation of this market assessment. 

Creating an ecosystem map will enable you to develop a more effective funding strategy, assess potential roadblocks, course correct and unlock unforeseen opportunities. Building this map is a crucial step after you have articulated your social change goal (often referred to as a philanthropic mission statement) and outlined a coherent theory of change. Your ecosystem map will allow you to visualize and consider the myriad external and internal forces, key stakeholders (those working with you and potentially against you) and market needs within the issue area you choose to focus on. Understanding this landscape will ultimately allow you to find the organizations best positioned to create transformational impact and form the best strategy to achieve your philanthropic goals.

“From my nearly twenty years of field experience, in order to create a comprehensive theory of change, you must first understand the players that operate within and the environmental conditions of the issue area you want to work in. That will inform your strategy. You do need a general idea of your intended impact, which is (at a very broad level) your purpose, but understanding the ecosystem is what informs your understanding of gaps in service provision and funding.

That knowledge informs what impact is possible for you to create and can help us avoid the incessant reinvention of the social change wheel.”

-Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, Stanford GSBGEN 381, 2018

Developing an Ecosystem Map

The process of developing your ecosystem map will entail mapping both the external conditions you work in and the different players in that environment. Because ecosystems are large and often complex, constructing an ecosystem map runs the risk of becoming a tedious and prolonged exercise. Mapping ecosystems, therefore, should be an intentional process focused on allowing you to gain insights about the players and the environmental conditions that could have a significant impact on the success of your social change goal. When constructing your ecosystem map, push beyond the obvious to consider the factors that influence the behavior of key players. In addition to focusing on the environmental conditions as they stand, analyze the direction of change in these social, political, economic and cultural conditions. 

I. Listing 

The first step to building your ecosystem map is to understand all of the key players and environmental conditions that influence your issue area. Remember, to create measurable social change, you must collaborate, compete and/or convene with those aligned or opposed to your social mission. To further your understanding of the essential components of an ecosystem map, let’s go through an example using  the following social change goal: 

A philanthropist wants to strengthen pathways to meaningful working opportunities in the technology industry for local veterans. 

Keeping this social change goal in mind, you should first begin by identifying key players. 

  • These players include providers of financial, human, knowledge, network, physical capital and technological resources, as well as any brokers or intermediaries who channel these resources to those who want them. In other words, consider the nonprofits, businesses and governmental entities who you may partner with to achieve your social change goal.

    • Example: Resource providers may vary from fellow funders and advocates, to individual mentors and nonprofit service providers like The COMMIT Foundation, VetsinTech, The Institute for Veterans and Military Families and The Honor Foundation, among others, who target veteran inclusion in the technology industry from unique perspectives.

  • This category includes other nonprofit organizations or services that compete to serve your target beneficiary in a way that reduces your potential impact. Competition can be healthy if it helps channel resources and beneficiaries towards the most effective programs. On the other hand, competition can lead to fragmentation and inefficiency if it is not linked to successful evidence-based interventions.

    • Example: Competitors may include organizations that pull veterans away from the technology sector including service academies, online programs and government or corporate programs that track veterans into more traditional fields, such as management and financial operations. Competitors may also include organizations that provide physically demanding jobs with no upward trajectory or professional development for veterans.

  • This group includes the organizations and individuals that facilitate your ability to create impact. Allies, for example, may include partners who improve or expand your ability to create meaningful impact. Often, this includes the organizations you would consider funding.

    • Example: In addition to the nonprofit service providers listed above, this group may include other nonprofit organizations or corporate partners working at various levels of the veteran transition support ecosystem (e.g., policy and advocacy, direct service, funding) such as Bunker Labs, Veterans2Work, Patriot Boot Camp, Navy SEAL Foundation, Craig Newmark Philanthropies and Veterans United Foundation.

  • It is important to not only think about your target beneficiary, but also the people around them. This includes players who have no direct impact presently, but who may indirectly benefit from or be harmed by your social change efforts.

    • Example: Consider the families of veterans and the ripple effect a successful career in the technology sector could have on economic mobility. You may also consider the role your funding can play in strengthening the organizational capacities of the nonprofit service providers who work directly with your target population.

  • To have measurable impact, you must be as specific as possible about the target population who you strive to serve and the organizations you seek to improve. To do this, consider who, specifically, you want to benefit from your philanthropy. Consider conducting research on the target population you strive to serve to see how possible measurable impact would be to achieve.

    • Example: You might want to focus on a subsection of the veteran community as your beneficiary population. For example, your beneficiaries and customers may include veterans with a religious affiliation in a specific geographic area. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs published a dataset that counted veterans based on their religious affiliations and the states they resided in—this would be a helpful resource when assessing whether or not you would be making an impact on your beneficiaries and customers. Other beneficiaries and customers might include female veterans who are single mothers in New York City and are experiencing housing insecurities or veterans who have aspirations of completing their college degrees but are suffering from acute stress disorder (ASD) or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and are unable to afford needed care.

  • These players—political, business and social sector alike—work directly against your social change goal by contributing to the problems you seek to address and/or striving to maintain the status quo.

    • Example: Opponents and problem makers may include hiring managers whose lack of understanding of military jobs and personal stereotypes influence hiring decisions, the current structure of the GI Bill, which often does not cover the total cost of coding bootcamps and negative societal and self-perceptions that inhibit even highly-qualified veterans from pursuing careers in the technology sector.

Once you have outlined key players, you should then outline the environmental conditions that significantly impact the people and organizations that work within your social issue. Importantly, these are forces that can be influenced, but frequently cannot be controlled. To further your understanding of the environmental conditions to consider in an ecosystem map, let’s continue to use the same social change goal of strengthening pathways to meaningful career opportunities in the technology industry for local veterans. 

  • These are the rules and regulations, political dynamics and laws that impact your issue area.

    • Example: This can include the structure, supports and limitations of the GI Bill, military exit forms and the Transition Assistance Program (TAP), as well as the Small Business Administration supports for individuals transitioning to civilian life. These structures will provide important insight into the dynamics and unique challenges of transitioning to civilian life, particularly into a workplace setting.

  • This is your issue area’s sociological context, including but not limited to the norms and values, important subgroups, communities, social networks and demographic trends of the area in which you seek to work.

    • Example: This includes the challenges veterans face when assimilating to work in the technology industry such as feelings of isolation and disconnection from colleagues, employer bias and lack of knowledge of military culture and skills as well as perceptions that non-military coworkers are intimidated by veterans. All of these factors can influence the success of a veteran in the technology industry, or lack thereof.

  • These structures include the economic health of the region(s) and industry in which you aim to operate and seek resources, as well as the region’s distribution of wealth, economic prospects and relevant markets. In other words, consider the opportunities, trends and market forces that can influence the outcome of your philanthropic investments.

    • Example: Each year, roughly 200,000 military members transition to civilian life—a world that is increasingly digitally-driven. This influx creates both strong demand and supply pulls for the future of our economy.

  • This accounts for the physical terrain and location, as well as the infrastructure that you rely on for transportation, communication and other operating needs.

    • Example: An analysis of the location of military bases shows that they are often physically distant from technology companies and venture capital funding. Further, research indicates that many veterans opt to stay near their former bases when transitioning to civilian life. It is important to highlight, however, that the COVID-19 pandemic may have shifted this trend and the proliferation of remote work broadens further technology sector hiring possibilities.

Creating your ecosystem map requires three steps:

1) Listing 2) Mapping and 3) Discovering

II. Mapping

Now that you have outlined your list of players and environmental conditions, you can begin to connect these elements together as you draw your ecosystem map. Your ecosystem map should be a living, evolving document, so make sure to construct your ecosystem map so you can easily modify elements as appropriate—e.g., on a white board or a computer with a program such as Jamboard. 

Here is a step-by-step guide for how you can draw your ecosystem map. 

Step 1

Make sure your issue area and your social change goal are clearly visible on your ecosystem map, as these should always be top of mind.

Step 2

Next, write the titles of each component of the ecosystem map on cards or post-its, including two to three of the most important players/conditions under each title. 

Step 3

Then, put the cards or post-its on your board, placing those that seem more relevant or related closer together and those that seem more distant or independent further away.

Step 4

 Now, draw arrows between the cards or post-its you feel have a strong and important connection that you want to highlight (e.g., a resource provider in your space funds an opponent or your beneficiaries and bystanders are tied together through a strong social fabric). 

Remember that you can erase, redraw and reposition elements to make your ecosystem map more coherent. Often, individuals will find that the environmental conditions and players within their issue area are so interwoven with each other that they will place them at the top of the board with no arrows, implying their integral connection to all other elements of the ecosystem map. As you go through this process and learn more about the landscape of your issue area, you can update your ecosystem map. 

III. Discovering 

Once you have a coherent ecosystem map, consider the following questions: 

  • What is your map missing? Are there resources that are not currently being provided? Are there organizations that should exist, but for some reason are absent from the issue area? Are there bystanders who should be more directly involved in this work? Is there a lack of connections between different players? What role might you play in filling any of these gaps?

  • Examine the players in your ecosystem. Who is having the greatest impact in the space? How might you support those efforts? Who is posing the biggest barriers to the success of your social change goal? How might you partner with complementary organizations to address those barriers? 

  • Analyze the environmental conditions in your ecosystem. What are the biggest environmental barriers to achieving your social change goal? How do the environmental factors shape the behaviors of the players in your ecosystem? How might you positively influence these environmental conditions?  

  • What additional research do you need to conduct in order to better understand the players and environmental conditions that are critical to your issue area ecosystem? 

  • How might you share your learning in order to maximize your impact and prevent the incessant reinvention of the social change wheel?

As you continue to develop your philanthropic strategy and learn more about the players and environmental conditions that influence your social change goal, be sure to modify your ecosystem map.

References:

Paul N. Bloom and J. Gregory Dees, “Cultivate Your Ecosystem,” Stanford Social Innovation, Winter 2008. 

 “Programs that Hire Veterans,” Military OneSource, April 15, 2020, https://www.militaryonesource.mil/military-life-cycle/separation-transition/employment-education/programs-that-hire-veterans/ (July 13, 2022).

 “About Us,” Veterans on Wall Street, https://veteransonwallstreet.com/who-we-are/about-us/ (July 13, 2022).  

 “Veteran Religious Affiliation by State,” U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, November 20, 2020, https://www.data.va.gov/dataset/Veteran-Religious-Affiliation-by-State/mcjn-bnqy (November 14, 2022). 

 Christopher Stone and Dianna L. Stone, “Factors affecting hiring decisions about veterans,” Human Resource Management Review (March 2015): 25, pp. 68-79. 

 “Thousands of Veterans Wants to Learn to Code—But Can’t,” Wired, May 3, 2017, https://www.wired.com/story/thousands-of-veterans-want-to-learn-to-code-but-cant/ (July 13, 2022). 

 Eileen Trauth, “Veterans may be overlooking job opportunities in the IT sector,” PBS Newshour, May 22, 2017, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/column-veterans-may-overlooking-job-opportunities-sector#show-last-Point (July 13, 2022). 

 “Veterans’ Employment Challenges,” Prudential Financial, 2012, https://eoa.oregonstate.edu/sites/eoa.oregonstate.edu/files/veterans_employment_challenges.pdf (July 13, 2022). 

 Fastco Works, “Hiring Heroes: Why veterans make great tech employees,” Fast Company, May 11, 2021, https://www.fastcompany.com/90634675/hiring-heroes-why-veterans-make-great-tech (July 13, 2022). 

 “Where Veterans Live,” Forbes, Nov 10, 2014, https://www.forbes.com/sites/trulia/2014/11/10/where-veterans-live/?sh=eee9c767484d (July 13, 2022).