Collective impact

Collective Impact is the commitment of a group of actors from different sectors to a common agenda for solving a specific social problem, using a structured form of collaboration. The concept of collective impact was first articulated in the 2011 Stanford Social Innovation Review article Collective Impact,^[1] written by John Kania, Managing Director at FSG, and Mark Kramer, Kennedy School at Harvard and Co-founder FSG. Collective impact was chosen as the #2 philanthropy buzzword for 2011,^[2] and has been recognized by the White House Council for Community Solutions as an important framework for progress on social issues.^[3]

The concept of collective impact hinges on the idea that in order for organizations to create lasting solutions to social problems on a large-scale, they need to coordinate their efforts and work together around a clearly defined goal.^[1] The approach of collective impact is placed in contrast to “isolated impact,” where organizations primarily work alone to solve social problems.^[4] Collective impact moves away from this, arguing that organizations should form cross-sector coalitions in order to make meaningful and sustainable progress on social issues.^[5]

Five conditions

Initiatives must meet five criteria in order to be considered collective impact:^[1]

• Common Agenda: All participating organizations (government agencies, non-profits, community members, etc.) have a shared vision for social change that includes a common understanding of the problem and a joint approach to solving the problem through agreed upon actions.
• Shared Measurement System: Agreement on the ways success will be measured and reported with a short list of key indicators across all participating organizations.
• Mutually Reinforcing Activities: Engagement of a diverse set of stakeholders, typically across sectors, coordinating a set of differentiated activities through a mutually reinforcing plan of action.
• Continuous Communication: Frequent communications over a long period of time among key players within and across organizations, to build trust and inform ongoing learning and adaptation of strategy.
• Backbone Organization: Ongoing support provided by an independent staff dedicated to the initiative. The backbone staff tends to play six roles to move the initiative forward:^[1] Guide Vision and Strategy; Support Aligned Activity; Establish Shared Measurement Practices; Build Public Will; Advance Policy; and Mobilize Funding.^[6]

Collective impact in practice

Collective impact initiatives have, and are currently, being employed for a wide variety issues,^[7] including education,^[8] health and healthcare,^[9] animal welfare,^[10] homelessness,^[11] poverty reduction,^[12] and youth and community development.^[13] Notable examples of collective impact initiatives include: The Strive Partnership educational initiative in Cincinnati, the environmental cleanup of the Elizabeth River in Virginia, the Shape Up Somerville campaign against childhood obesity in Somerville, Mass, and the work of the Calgary Homeless Foundation in Calgary, Canada.^[7]

Partners in Progress (PIP), an initiative of the Citi Foundation and the Low Income Investment Fund, has been supporting a broad range of projects across the country that are using a collective impact approach to address the issues of poverty and urban transformation.^[14] It emphasizes collaborative approaches to these issues, particularly at the neighborhood and regional levels, guided by a local community leader (known as a “community quarterback”^[15] or “backbone organization”). PIP communities are also focused on data collection to show what is or isn’t working. PIP projects tackle urban challenges ranging from engaging hospital, city and community organizations to improve health in an Oakland neighborhood, to uniting city officials, employers, and the community around jobs in Brooklyn, to using transit as a hub for health, housing, and economic development in Dallas.^[16]

The White House Council for Community Solutions has recognized the potential of collective impact to play a major role in transforming the ways in which communities approach their social problems.^[17] A 2012 report assembled on behalf of the Council found that, among 12 “needle-moving community collaboratives” that had achieved at least 10 percent progress in a community wide metric, all 12 met the conditions of collective impact.^[3]

The White House Council's work in collective impact is being continued today by the Aspen Forum for Community Solutions.^[18] In 2014, the Aspen Forum, in partnership with FSG, launched the Collective Impact Forum, an online community to help support the efforts of those who are practicing collective impact.^[19]

References

External links

• Collective Impact Forum website
• White House Council on Community Solutions: Discussion on Collective Impact
• Huffington Post : Collective Impact
• Strive Partnership website
• United Way of Salt Lake website