Do Good. Better. Guidebook Chapter 11: Ecosystem Mapping

When you’re done with this section, you’ll be able to...

1. Define the concept and purpose of ecosystem mapping. 

2. Identify and analyze the key components of ecosystem maps. 

3. Recognize how ecosystem maps can enhance collaboration, reveal best practices, and identify gaps in solving social problems. 

4. Understand the concept “Proudly Found Elsewhere.”

    

INTRODUCTION

The word “ecosystem” often brings to mind a biological system, where organisms are interconnected, each depending on and shaping the others. Similarly, a social impact ecosystem reveals the interdependencies and relationships within a community working on or experiencing a shared challenge. Addressing complex social issues requires collaboration among all parts of the ecosystem, each with unique expertise and resources. No organization works in isolation. This chapter explores how understanding a social impact ecosystem enhances strategic planning, reveals gaps and best practices, equips social organizations to engage with stakeholders, and improves overall social impact.

WHAT IS ECOSYSTEM MAPPING?

Ecosystem mapping is the process of creating a visual tool that illustrates the relationships, resources, and interactions surrounding a social issue. It shows how different parts of the system connect, using lines, shapes, and colors to represent roles and relationships. In turn, it serves as a strategic guide for identifying assets, strengthening collaboration, and informing more effective solutions.

WHAT ARE THE KEY COMPONENTS OF AN ECOSYSTEM MAP?

An ecosystem map typically includes the following elements:

• Actors: The various stakeholders who play a role in addressing the issue, from large nonprofits and formal institutions to individual community leaders and religious groups. 
• Resources: The assets available within the ecosystem, such as funding, services, expertise, volunteer time, physical spaces, technology platforms, political influences, and infrastructure. 
• Relationships: The connections between key players (collaborative, influential, dependent), which can be strong or weak, reciprocal or one-directional, and formal (contractual partnerships) or informal (shared board members, regular communication).  
• Processes: The flow of information, resources, and services within the ecosystem that show, for example, how a person experiencing homelessness accesses shelter, how funding gets from donors to programs, or how data is shared between organizations. 
• External Factors: The broader environmental, economic, social, and political conditions that impact the ecosystem and shape what’s possible, such as government policies, economic conditions, or technological changes. 

These components help map out the complex web of relationships and resources within their social impact context, revealing how each part of the system plays a role in shaping outcomes. A well-constructed ecosystem map doesn’t just list these elements; it shows how they interact and depend on each other.

Think of a personal challenge you are currently facing. What resources and relationships might be helpful to you in addressing this challenge?

WHY IS ECOSYSTEM MAPPING IMPORTANT?

An ecosystem map provides a comprehensive overview of a social issue’s landscape. By mapping out the various components of an ecosystem, stakeholders can:

• Identify Key Players: Recognize who the most influential actors (key players) are in an ecosystem, including organizations, individuals, and institutions, and strive to understand their specific role, capacity, and influence. 
• Understand Relationships: View the networks of collaboration, competition, and influence between key players to determine how resources flow and where bottlenecks occurs. 
• Spot Gaps and Opportunities: Detect missing elements or weak links in the ecosystem. Consider how to fill these critical gaps with targeted interventions and resource allocation. 
• Enhance Collaboration: Facilitate coordination among different organizations to promote working toward common goals, rather than duplicating efforts or competing unnecessarily.¹

Through this visual diagram, stakeholders gain a deeper understanding of how each part of the ecosystem influences the other, providing insight into possible solutions and interventions. As a result, ecosystem mapping transforms an overwhelming landscape into a navigable map.

Why is it important to visualize the relationships and resources within an ecosystem when working to address social issues? How can this help in making strategic decisions?

WHO ARE THE KEY PLAYERS IN AN ECOSYSTEM?

Key players in an ecosystem are organizations, individuals, or institutions that have a direct stake in the social issue being addressed.² They are the most influential actors. Not only is it important to identify these players, but it is crucial to understand their role, their resources, and their connection to other parts of the ecosystem.

Key Player Categories

Peers: Organizations or people doing similar work in a comparable way. These are your colleagues in the field. They’re addressing the same issue with similar approaches, serving similar populations, or working in the same geographic area. While you might sometimes compete for funding or attention, peers are valuable sources of learning and potential partners.

Collaborators & Resource Providers: Those who assist in parts of the work, offering resources, expertise, or support. These actors don’t fill the same role as you, but they provide essential input. Collaborators and resource providers might include foundations that fund your work, universities that provide research support, government agencies that offer data or facilities, or businesses that donate goods or services.

Competitors: Organizations that may compete for the same resources or attention but offer opportunities for learning and improvement. Competition isn’t necessarily negative. It can drive innovation, reveal what works, and show where the field is heading. Understanding your competitors helps you differentiate your approach and learn from their successes and failures.

Customer-Partners & Target Users: The individuals or groups directly affected by or benefiting from the interventions. These are the people experiencing the social issue you’re trying to address. They should be at the center of your ecosystem map because ultimately, the entire ecosystem exists to serve them.

Example: Homelessness Ecosystem

An ecosystem map for an organization addressing homelessness might include these key players:

• Shelters (peers): Provide similar emergency housing services. 
• Community groups (peers): Offer related support and advocacy. 
• Healthcare providers (collaborators & resource providers): Address medical needs of people experiencing homelessness. 
• Government agencies (collaborators & resource providers): Provide funding, data, and policy frameworks. 
• Other nonprofit organizations (peers and/or competitors): May compete for the same grant funding but also offer complementary services. 
• Individuals experiencing homelessness (customer-partners): The people at the center of your efforts. Important contacts to co-create solutions and gather insights into the issue. 

Important note: Some organizations may fill multiple roles. A government agency might be both a collaborator (providing funding) and a competitor (running its own homelessness programs). A peer organization might be a resource provider by sharing best practices, while also being a grant competitor. These overlapping roles are normal, and understanding them helps you navigate complex relationships.

By mapping the connections between key players, organizations can identify gaps (populations or services not being addressed), opportunities for collaboration (complementary strengths), and potential areas for intervention (unmet needs in the ecosystem).

Who are the key players in a social issue ecosystem that you care about? Try to identify at least one actor in each category.

HOW CAN ECOSYSTEM MAPPING REVEAL BEST PRACTICES AND FOSTER COLLABORATION?

Learning from Best Practices

Acting within an ecosystem helps SPSOs learn from existing practices and integrate relevant strategies into their own work. It invites collaboration with experienced organizations and stakeholders that often possess valuable insights into what strategies are most effective. These strategies are referred to as best practices because they represent the current research and accumulated wisdom surrounding the most effective methods for solving social problems. 

Rather than reinventing the wheel, SPSOs are encouraged to build on the proven methods and best practices of other organizations. This approach allows them to develop solutions faster and take them further by expanding on prior learning and demonstrated.³ The Ballard Center refers to this concept as “Proudly Found Elsewhere.” It distills the idea that many successful strategies and approaches have already been tested and refined by other organizations.v There’s no shame in adopting or adapting what works elsewhere. In fact, it’s often the smartest and most efficient approach.

By recognizing these existing practices, SPSOs can:

• Learn from past experiences and accumulated knowledge. 
• Avoid repeating mistakes others have already made. 
• Apply proven solutions with confidence, knowing they’ve worked before. 
• Enhance their own interventions, measurements, evaluations, and organizational learning. 
• Focus innovation efforts on areas where new approaches are truly needed. 

The principle is simple: Innovation for its own sake can waste time and resources. If someone has already created an effective solution, adapt it rather than starting from scratch. Save your innovative energy for the gaps where no good solution exists yet.

For more information about the concept “Proudly Found Elsewhere” and the prioritization of effective replication over redundant innovation, read the Stanford Social Impact Review: Enough Innovation Already! by Kevin Starr, with Greg Coussa.

Fostering Strategic Collaboration

Ecosystem mapping also helps organizations connect to a larger network of resources, expertise, and stakeholders. By better understanding the broader context of the issue and the key players, they can join existing partnerships and networks rather than working in isolation.

This collaborative approach offers several strategic advantages:

• Efficient Resource Allocation: By understanding what others are doing, organizations can avoid duplication and focus their resources where they’re most needed. If three organizations are already providing job training in one neighborhood but none are offering childcare support, providing childcare would be a better allocation of resources. The ecosystem map reveals this gap.  
• Targeted Interventions: The ecosystem map shows where other organizations are targeting their efforts and reveals underserved areas of an ecosystem. By consulting the map, SPSOs can target their interventions toward these underserved areas instead of competing for resources in well-served areas. This strategic positioning benefits everyone. The new organization differentiates itself, funders see efficient use of resources, and most importantly, more people are served.  
• Stronger Partnerships: When organizations understand the full ecosystem, they can form strategic partnerships based on complementary strengths. A health clinic and a housing nonprofit might realize they serve the same population and could share referrals, coordinate services, or even co-locate to better serve their customer-partners. 
• Better Strategic Decisions: Recognizing gaps and opportunities allows organizations to make better strategic decisions about where to focus, what to offer, and how to position themselves. It transforms strategy from guesswork to informed decision-making. 
• Maximized Impact: By engaging more effectively with their ecosystem, organizations can achieve greater collective impact than they ever could working alone.

Imagine you are working with a for-profit organization that focuses on providing mental health services to underserved communities. After creating an ecosystem map, you discover several other organizations in your area offering similar services. What steps would you take to foster collaboration and improve your program’s effectiveness?

SUMMARY

Ecosystem mapping is a valuable tool for addressing social issues because it makes visible the connections among key players, resources, and external factors. By clarifying how the system functions, it helps organizations position themselves strategically, collaborate more effectively, and maximize their impact. In particular, it strengthens collaboration by enabling organizations to identify stakeholders, understand their roles, and recognize available support. It also accelerates the development of effective strategies by revealing gaps, highlighting best practices, and making it easier to learn from others. This aligns with the concept of “Proudly Found Elsewhere,” which encourages organizations to build on proven approaches rather than reinventing solutions, saving time and effort while achieving stronger outcomes.

Ultimately, ecosystem mapping drives sustainable and meaningful social change by deepening understanding, strengthening partnerships, and enhancing the impact of social programs. It transforms a fragmented landscape of isolated efforts into a coordinated network working toward shared goals, benefiting not just individual organizations but the communities they serve.

ENDNOTES

1 - Visible Network Labs. “Ecosystem Mapping 101 Infographic: System Change for Social Impact.” (2023)
2 - Stanford Social Innovation Review. “Cultivate Your Ecosystem.” (2007)
3 - Starr, Kevin, and Greg Coussa. “Enough Innovation Already!” (2020)
4 - Starr, Kevin, and Greg Coussa. “Enough Innovation Already!” (2020)