Let me be clear that I am not suggesting associations eschew prudent management of their affairs. After all, pursuing the mission will be next to impossible if the organization is foundering. Indeed, I believe a strategic focus on creating social capital, cultivated on the fertile ground of relationships, learning, and knowledge, offers the best chance for associations to emerge as distinctive and vital contributors to our society over the next 100 years. Put simply, social capital is what bonds people together over time as they seek to create a better future for the communities and organizations to which they are connected. As a truly organic resource, social capital accumulates and grows in strength when it is used, and dissipates when left unused.
Social capital is an essential ingredient of stronger communities and a healthy society.
In its absence, individuals are less connected to their communities, less inclined to collaborate with others to improve them and, therefore, far less likely to accomplish the results possible through collective action. Social capital is created through deeper, more authentic connections with other people, and relies on shared expectations, values, and trust among members of a community or organization. It is frequently an unexpected outcome of other social activities, and can be transferred across different communal settings. In this regard, social capital reveals itself as a phenomenon not owned by a single person, but a resource that resides within and flows throughout the entire community or organization. Unfortunately, social capital is an invaluable resource that is in short supply today.