Collective Impact

September 2013

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FSG Is a Nonprofit Consulting Firm and a Leader in Collective

Impact Thinking and Implementation • Nonprofit consulting firm specializing in strategy, evaluation and

research

− Partner with foundations, corporations, nonprofits, and

governments to develop more effective solutions to the world’s

most challenging issues

– Recognized thought leader with multiple articles published in

HBR, SSIR, Chronicle of Philanthropy, and the American Journal

of Evaluation

• FSG articles have paved the way for Collective Impact

‒ Leading Boldly (2004)

‒ Breakthroughs in Shared Measurement (2008)

‒ Catalytic Philanthropy (2009)

‒ Collective Impact (2012)

‒ Channeling Change: Making Collective Impact Work (2012)

‒ Embracing Emergence: How Collective Impact Addresses

Complexity (2013)

• FSG understands how to enable and sustain Collective Impact

efforts through our work with clients in the following sectors:

‒ Juvenile justice

‒ Teen substance abuse

‒ Economic development

‒ Education reform

‒ Environmental sustainability

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There Are Several Types of Problems

Source: Adapted from “Getting to Maybe”

Simple Complicated

Baking a Cake

Sending a Rocket

to the Moon

Social sector treats problems as simple or

complicated

Complex

Raising a Child

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Traditional Approaches Are Not Solving Our Most

Complex Social Problems

• Funders select individual grantees

Isolated Impact • Organizations work separately

and compete

• Corporate and government sectors

are often disconnected from

foundations and nonprofits

• Evaluation attempts to isolate a

particular organization’s impact

• Large scale change is assumed to

depend on scaling organizations

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Imagine a Different Approach – Multiple Players

Working Together to Solve Complex Issues

• Understand that social problems – and

their solutions – arise from interaction

of many organizations within larger

system Collective Impact

• Cross-sector alignment with

government, nonprofit, philanthropic

and corporate sectors as partners

• Organizations actively coordinating

their action and sharing lessons

learned

• All working toward the same goal and

measuring the same things

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Collective Impact is the commitment of a

group of important actors from different

sectors to a common agenda for solving a

specific social problem.

Source: Channeling Change: Making Collective Impact Work, 2012

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Collective Impact Involves Five Key Elements

Common Agenda • Common understanding of the problem

• Shared vision for change

Mutually Reinforcing

Activities

• Differentiated approaches

• Willingness to adapt individual activities

• Coordination through joint plan of action

Continuous

Communication

• Consistent and open communication

• Focus on building trust

Backbone Support

• Separate organization(s) with staff

• Resources and skills to convene and

coordinate participating organizations

Source: Channeling Change: Making Collective Impact Work, 2012; FSG Interviews

Shared Measurement

• Collecting data and measuring results

• Focus on performance management

• Shared accountability

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Collective Impact Is Distinct from Other Valid

Approaches to Collaboration

It is distinct from other forms of collaboration

Type of

Collaboration Definition

Collective Impact

Initiatives

Long-term commitments by a group of important actors from

different sectors to a common agenda for solving a specific

social problem

Funder

Collaboratives Groups of funders interested in supporting the same issue

who pool their resources

Public-Private

Partnerships Partnerships formed between government and private sector

organizations to deliver specific services or benefits

Multi-Stakeholder

Initiatives Voluntary activities by stakeholders from different sectors

around a common theme

Social Sector

Networks Groups of individuals or organizations fluidly connected

through purposeful relationships, whether formal or informal

Mo

re E

lem

en

ts o

f C

ollecti

ve I

mp

act

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Collective Impact Can Apply to Many Complex

Social Issues

Education Healthcare

Economic Development Youth Development

Homelessness

Community Development

*

*

*

*

* Indicates FSG Client

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Achieving Collective Impact Takes a Mindset Shift

Technical

Solutions to

Problems

Adaptive

Solutions to

Problems

Silver Bullet Silver Buckshot

Credit Credibility

Source: Channeling Change: Making Collective Impact Work, 2012; FSG Interviews and Analysis

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A Broad Set of Partners Work to Achieve the Common Vision,

Supported by a Backbone and Steering Committee

* Adapted from Listening to the Stars: The Constellation Model of Collaborative Social Change, by Tonya Surman and Mark Surman, 2008.

partner-driven

action

strategic guidance

and support = community

partner (e.g.,

nonprofit, funder,

business, public

agency, resident) Ecosystem of

Community Partners

Backbone

Organization

(or set of

organizations

that collectively

play backbone

function)

Steering

Committee

Work

Group

Work

Group

Work

Group Work

Group

Chair Chair

Chair

Chair

Chair

Chair

Chair

Chair

Common Agenda and Shared Metrics

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Backbone Organizations Engage in Six Important Activities

Backbones must balance the tension between coordinating and maintaining

accountability, while staying behind the scenes to establish collective ownership

Guide Vision and Strategy

Build Public Will

Support Aligned Activities

Mobilize Funding

Establish Shared Measurement Practices

Advance Policy

Source: FSG Interviews and Analysis

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The Unique Role of Backbone Organizations Can Be

Misunderstood

That the backbone organization:

ₓ sets the agenda for the group

ₓ drives the solutions

ₓ receives all the funding

ₓ is self appointed rather than selected by the community

ₓ Is “business as usual” in terms of staffing, time, and resources

Source: FSG Interviews and Analysis

Common Misperceptions

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Shared Measurement Is a Critical Piece of Pursuing

a Collective Impact Approach

Identifying 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

Improved Data Quality

Tracking Progress Toward a Shared Goal

Enabling Coordination and Collaboration

Learning and Course Correction

Catalyzing Action

Definition

Benefits of Using Shared Measurement

Source: Breakthroughs in Shared Measurement and Social Impact, FSG, 2009

Overview of Shared Measurement

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Several Challenges Can Occur When Developing and

Implementing Shared Measurement Systems

Difficulty in coming to agreement on common outcomes and indicators

Concerns about relative performance / comparative measurement across

providers working in the same space

Limited capacity (time and skill) for measurement and data analysis within

participating organizations

Alignment among funders to ask for the common measures as part of their

reporting requirements

Time and cost of developing and maintaining a system, both for human capital

and technology

Challenges

Overview of Shared Measurement

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There Are Three Phases to Developing a Shared

Measurement System

Design Develop Deploy

1 2 3

• Shared vision for the

system and its relation to

broader goals, theory of

change or roadmap

• View of current state of

knowledge and data

• Governance and

organization for

structured participation

• Identification of metrics,

data collection approach,

including confidentiality/

transparency

• Development of web-

based platform and

data collection tools

• Refinement and

testing of platform

and tools

• Staffing for data

management and

synthesis

• Learning forums and

continuous

improvement

• Ongoing infrastructure

support

• Improve system based

on a pilot, review,

refinement, and

ongoing evaluation of

usability and impact

Developing a Shared Measurement System

Source: FSG Analysis

Designing Shared Measurement Systems

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Strong

Leadership

Substantial

Funding

Broad

Engagement

Ongoing

Staffing

Support

Technology

Continuous

Learning

1

Developing the strategy

requires:

• Strong leadership

• Substantial funding

• Broad engagement

• Ongoing staffing support

2

Web-based technology provides a

critical tool for bringing it to scale:

• Easily accessible – voluntary

participation open to all stakeholders

• Highly customizable, cont. updated

3

Shared measurement creates cross-learning

opportunities through continuous learning and

improvement:

• Stakeholders regularly share data

• Facilitated process to learn from each other’s

experiences, and to improve coordination

Developing Shared Measurement Systems Requires Strong

Leadership, Funding, Broad Engagement, Infrastructure

and a Commitment to Learning

Designing Shared Measurement Systems

Source: FSG Analysis

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There Are a Number of “Tips and Tricks” to Bear in Mind

When Developing Shared Measures

Overview of Shared Measurement

Collecting and

Presenting Data

• Set specific and time-bound goals and report progress relative to

targets

• Include data on whole populations (vs. a sample) where possible

• Use numbers as well as percentages to make goals more tangible

Identifying

Indicators

• Limit “top-level” indicators to a manageable number (~15), with

additional contributing indicators if needed

• Establish a set of criteria to guide the identification and prioritization

of potential indicators

Leveraging

Existing Efforts

and Expertise

• Form a voluntary team of data experts to advise on the design,

development, and deployment of a shared measurement system

• Develop a crosswalk of what partners are already measuring

• Consider leveraging existing indicators adopted by relevant efforts

at the local, provincial, or federal level

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Predetermined

Solutions

and

Emerging Rules of

Interaction

Predetermined

Rules of Interaction

and

Emerging Solutions

Current

Approach

Needed for Large

Scale Change

Collective Impact Requires a New Approach

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Characteristics of Complex Systems

1. Are not predictable in detail

2. Achieve order without central control

3. Evolve naturally through emergence

4. Have embedded systems

5. Operate through co-evolution

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Addressing Complexity in Collective Impact Efforts

• Collective Doing

• Collective Learning

• Collective Seeing

• Create Common Intent

• Use Structure to Take

Advantage of Emergence

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Thank You!

To talk more with FSG about Collective Impact:

• Jennifer Splansky Juster, Director

jennifer.juster@fsg.org

Collective Impact resources available on FSG’s website: http://fsg.org/KnowledgeExchange/FSGApproach/CollectiveImpact.aspx