‘Collaborative action & collective Impact ’

Elena Douglas

Centre for Social Impact

UWA Business School

This session

• The spectrum of collective action

• Why don’t we collaborate?

• 5 conditions of collective impact

• How do you know if you are ready?

• Do a self-assessment of your sector or geography

• Don’t forget data – data drives integration and

collective impact

• Examples for you to research to take it further

• Remember the mantra: “Beyond ego, logo, and silo”

Communication Consultation Cooperation Collaboration Collective impact

When you move the dial at the population level!

Integration

DATA

The spectrum of collective action

But where is the population level data?

So you want to collaborate...

What is stopping us:

• Lack of incentives

Current tendering and grant processes only require

management of inputs not outcomes -

Collaboration is not required.

• Not how we work right now

History and convention

Leadership & governance focus is on

the organisations, not impact

Building the evidence base at the population/real

social change level requires extensive resourcing

and upskilling

We haven’t developed the skills norms and stories

Conditions of collective impact... What defines the approach....

We will learn about 5 conditions:

They will change the way we see our work and the way

we do what we do.

Make no mistake, this is cultural change.

It’s not easy, it’s for the

Brave and committed.

Have your clients in

Your mind and heart

And lets begin!

Critical steps in a collective impact project

1. Determining a common agenda - what really matters

A shared vision for change including a common

understanding of the problem being solved including

defining scope and boundaries

(e.g. geographic, target age group)

Critical steps in a collective impact project

Build a strong new identity around the common

agenda

This needs to be robust enough to manage the

demands of the existing identity within the

organisation.

Beyond ego and logo we return to mission.

Critical steps in a collective impact project (cont’d)

2. Shared measurement systems

Agreement on a common agenda is illusory without

agreement on the ways success will be measured

and reported.

What will you measure together and be

accountable for?

Technology:

- Results Based Accountability

- Social Solutions software

It’s a fast-moving field and

resources are coming online....

Critical steps in a collective impact project

3. Mutually reinforcing activities

All the various activities, across all the sectors need to

be pulling in the same direction, even if they have

very different approaches and methods. This is

also where the magic of specialisation comes in –

everyone is now able to concentrate on their

strength and then collectively go further.

Critical steps in a collective impact project

4. Continual communication

Developing trust among nonprofits, corporations, and

government agencies is a monumental challenge.

Participants need several years of regular

meetings to build up enough experience with each

other to recognize and appreciate the common

motivation behind their different efforts. Common

vocabulary needs to develop. Biweekly or monthly

meetings among the organizations’ CEO-level

leaders.

Critical steps in a collective impact project (cont’d)

5. Backbone support organisation (Secretariat)

• Requires a particular skill set:

• Creating collaborative spaces

• Nurturing trust across a broad set of people

• Keeping the focus clear

• Continuous reporting and communicating clearly.

• Moral governance of all the players in the project, ensuring

that they are on track in terms of individual contributions &

collectively.

Best if the Secretariat is neither government nor an existing

powerful player in the sector to provide the independence

necessary to play the role of coach and umpire.

Pre-conditions for collective impact

HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU ARE READY?

• Inspirational, influential, effective leadership.

• Strong outcomes measurement capability at the population

level.

• Existing genuine relationships and proven collaboration to

build on.

• Agreement on the need for a new way forward and authority

from major funders to pursue the new way.

• Sufficient funding to sustain the length of the process

required.

Where is your sector?

Geography

• Does your footprint include all players who impact on your population?

• Could you involve them?

• What would be the barriers to doing this?

Have a conversation at your table about a region you know about and discuss prospects for tightening the collaborations.

Make no mistake... The data brought up to collective impact.....

We wouldn’t be here if not for the social impact

data revolution.

Once people starting examining population level

data – the reality of the need for a radical new

approach became clear.

Measurement changes the world!

Self-assessment

HOW READY ARE YOU? Give your region a mark out of ten.

• Inspirational, influential, effective leadership.

• Strong outcomes measurement capability at the population

level.

• Existing genuine relationships and proven collaboration to

build on.

• Agreement on the need for a new way forward and authority

from major funders to pursue the new way.

• Sufficient funding to sustain the length of the process

required.

Great examples – International STRIVE

• Best global example is STRIVE in greater Cinncinati

Ohio, transforming education cradle to career for all

children

• Key to the projects success is a shared

measurement framework which is designed

Collective Impact work by Kania and Kramer building on the

Shared Measurement Framework work of Kramer et al

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLqc_9VxfCE

Strategic philanthropy for a complex world

VIDEO: Strategic philanthropy for a complex world https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzWOG4lzMTc

Thank you. Elena Douglas Centre for Social Impact UWA Business School Email: Elena.Douglas@uwa.edu.au