​​The next generation of functional organizations ​will not look like the NRA and AARP. ​Economic, technological, and cultural shifts will fuel a new set of functional organizations that have several key characteristics:​

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Network-centric: high-growth functional organizations will be less hierarchical and more distributed in their structure. Catalyzing member-to-member relationships will be as important as developing institution-to-member relationships.
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Diverse: 21st century functional organizations will tap into the rapid shifts in demographics in the United States (and other developed countries) that have been driven by immigration and birth patterns.
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Social-Network Driven: the fastest growing functional organizations will be completely integrated with social networking platforms, particularly Facebook and Twitter.
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Global: new functional organizations will organize globally, while developing leadership and engagement locally.



21st Century Functional Institutions