by Neel Hajra

Why aren’t there Harlem Children’s Zones all over the country? Why is it that superb local efforts aren’t immediately replicated in other communities? After all, isn’t replication a common goal of foundations AND the government? Don’t we all tell our funders that yes, our program will become a regional or national model?

In fact, the old model was for foundations to provide startup capital to promising initiatives, with the hope that there would be a “hand-off” to government for replication and scaling. Head Start is a classic example. It’s also an extremely rare occurrence. The Wall Street Journal posted an article about the challenge of replicating the success of the Cleveland Clinic. While hospitals are among the giants of the nonprofit sector, that makes the issue even more intriguing. When the largest part of our sector can’t engage in effective replication, even when backed by the government, clearly the “cloning” of good ideas is MUCH harder than people think.

The reasons are wide and varied, but often include:

  • Cost: Everyone always underestimates the cost of replication – nonprofits always promise this to foundations, but it’s perpetually under-funded
  • Independence: At the end of the day, many communities believe that their situations are unique, and therefore not prone to emulating solutions from other parts of the country.
  • Culture: Strong organizations or programs are often driven by a certain culture that can’t be easily duplicated
  • Expertise: Replication, whether through expansion, franchising, or otherwise, is an art and science. Nonprofit organizations often lack the requisite know-how to do it right.
  • Control: Sometimes the founding organization isn’t willing to give up enough control to other communities to allow for robust replication.

NEW itself has replicated its BoardConnect program in Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, and the Upper Peninsula in Michigan. It’s a wonderful way to share our best practices, but the fees paid by our partners don’t come close to covering the startup and maintenance costs associated with the effort. We are willing to take a loss because we feel strongly that our successes should be shared with others.

Organizations are slowly starting to contemplate how to leverage information technologies to encourage replication. “Open sourcing” a program (i.e., packaging it up and distributing it for free) is a growing movement. Kaboom’s online toolkit is a great example.

My hope is that the increasing interconnectedness of society will allow for more frequent replication of great services. But until funders and communities accept (and embrace) the true costs and challenges of replication, it will remain a very tough road.

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