If you are part of a grassroots group active in your community you might not think you need to concern yourself with the concept of international engagement. However, even small and locally based organizations can gain from international awareness, argues Bonnie Koenig, author of Going Global for the Greater Good. Koenig, a consultant to nonprofits developing international programs, cites the Chicago Foundation for Women (CFW) as an example of a community-based organization that became more internationally involved. Inspired by the 1995 World Conference on Women, CFW developed a fuller understanding of the global context of issues that affect women and girls, not just in Chicago, but around the world.

As outlined by Koenig, the advantages of global engagement include discovering ideas beneficial to your programs from other countries, becoming more supportive and respectful of diversity within your organization, improving understanding and the effectiveness of programs reaching a diverse clientele, and increasing your credibility with those who think internationally. Koenig also debunks the notion that starting an international program is a major event requiring extensive resources. For example, CFW, because of its convening power and the wide variety of cultures represented by its grantees, found it relatively easy to include women from varied immigrant and U.S. national backgrounds in discussing issues concerning all women. This diversity of voices added breadth and depth to their discussions.

Going Global provides practical strategies not only for organizations beginning a move into the international arena, but also for groups farther along what Koenig terms the "international engagement spectrum." Part one outlines the elements along this continuum: beginning with a solely local organization, moving to a local organization with international awareness, to a local organization with international programs, to an organization with members or programs in different countries, to an organization in an alliance/network, and finally to a fully global organization.

Part two of this book offers several program ideas for developing a global connection. Among the issues covered here are using your annual conference as an international gateway, accessing international networks, and developing alliances and partnerships. Part three discusses the ways that an organization can internationalize its decision-making through membership and governance groups. In part four, Koenig supplies examples of groups outside the United States that have successfully become global, such as Clean Up the World in Australia, KidLink in Norway, and the Shanghai Women's Federation in China.

Although most helpful to groups in the early stages of globalization, organizations anywhere along the international engagement spectrum will find something in Going Global to enhance their efforts.

For citations to additional materials on this topic refer to the Literature of the Nonprofit Sector Online, using the subject heading "Nonprofit organizations-international."