Collective Impact

General OverviewDecember 2012

Developing a healthy community… Involves planning & collective action to generate solutions to community problems. Developing a healthy community should be: a long-term endeavour. well planned. inclusive and equitable. holistic and integrated into the bigger

picture. initiated and supported by community

members. of benefit to the community. grounded in experience that leads to

best practice.2

Slide courtesy of Laura Landrum2/2/2012

…requires and helps build community capacity

• to address issues. • to take advantage of

opportunities.• to find common ground. • to balance competing interests.

It does not just happen—it requires both a conscious and a conscientious effort to do something (or many things) to improve the community.

Developing a healthy community…

3Slide courtesy of Laura Landrum

2/2/2012

Partner Benefits - Examples• Increases their visibility and stature in

the community• Supports their mission or serves their

constituency• Positions them for future funding

opportunities• Strengthens partnerships for future

endeavors

42/2/2012

FSG.ORG

There Are Several Types of ProblemsSimple Complicated

Baking a CakeSending a Rocket

to the Moon

The social sector often treats problems as simple or complicated

Complex

Raising a Child

• Grantees work separately and compete to produce the greatest independent impact

• Evaluation attempts to isolate a particular grantee’s impact

• Large scale change depends onscaling a single organization

• Corporate and government sectors are disconnected

• Progress depends on working toward the same goal and measuring the same things

• Large scale impact depends on increasing cross-sector alignment and learning among many organizations

• Government and corporate sectors are essential partners

There is a fundamental mismatch between the complexity of social problems and philanthropy’s typical focus on individual

granteesIsolated Impact Collective Impact

• Funders select individual grantees that offer the most promising solutions

• Social problems arise from theinteraction of many organizations within a larger system

Collective Impact

Collective impact initiatives provide a structure for cross-sector leaders to forge a common agenda for solving a specific social problem

© 2011 FSG 6

ISOLATED IMPACT COLLECTIVE IMPACT

Achieving Large-Scale Change through Collective Impact Involves 5 Key Conditions for Shared Success

Common Agenda

Shared Measurement

Mutually Reinforcing Activities

Continuous Communication

Backbone Support

All participants have a shared vision for change including a common understanding of the problem and a joint approach to solving it through agreed upon actions

Collecting data and measuring results consistently across all participants ensures efforts remain aligned and participants hold each other accountable

Participant activities must be differentiated while still being coordinated through a mutually reinforcing plan of action

Consistent and open communication is needed across the many players to build trust, assure mutual objectives, and appreciate common motivation

Creating and managing collective impact requires a separate organization(s) with staff and a specific set of skills to serve as the backbone for the entire initiative and coordinate participating organizations and agencies

© 2012 FSG 8

FSG.ORG

Shared Measurement is Critical to Collective Impact

DefinitionIdentifying common metrics for tracking progress toward a common agenda across

organizations, and providing scalable platforms to share data, discuss learnings, and improve strategy and action

Benefits of Using Shared Measurement Improved Data Quality

Tracking Progress Toward a Shared Goal

Enabling Coordination and Collaboration

Learning and Course Correction

Catalyzing Action

2007

-08 (e

st.)

2008

-09 (e

st.)

2009

-10 (e

st.)

2009

-10 (a

ct.)

2010

-11(ac

t.)0

102030405060708090

On-Time Graduation Rate (percent)Cohort Dropout Rate (percent)

29.3%

76.7%

15.9%

60.3%

Sectors and Leadership

• Control over resources and strategies to move the work

• Influence in the community or resources and decision-makers

• Expertise in a certain area, e.g. Education

• Action – willing to dedicate time and resources to the partnership

• Government• Non-profits• Philanthropy• Civic• Business• Community• Faith-based• Grantors• Other

• Examples of collective impact initiatives: http://www.fsg.org/FSGNews/NewsEventsDetails/ArticleId/985/New-Collective-Impact-Resources-8-Case-Studies-of-Successful-Initiatives.aspx

• Article about collective impact: http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/collective_impact