Engaging Community in Collective Impact: Design Thinking and Community

Engagement

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Need: the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago identified the need to work differently: both in how community organizations work with each other, residents and in how the United Way works with service providing organizations

Approach: Through a Collective Impact framework, the United Way is working with nonprofits, business and community leaders, government, schools and residents to make a real and lasting improvement in peoples’ lives.

Impact: Ten neighborhood specific collective impact initiatives

The Five Conditions of Collective Impact Success

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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 problem. Collective Impact is more

rigorous and specific than collaboration among organizations.

• Common Agenda: 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

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

• Mutually Reinforcing Activities: Participant activities must be differentiated while still being coordinated through a mutually reinforcing plan of action

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

• Backbone Organization: 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.

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