Much of the work, ethos and approaches I have developed over the years have been influenced by the Stanford Social Innovation Review, I was lucky enough to attend one of their programmes – which had a positive and lasting impact .
Below are the five key factors identified for success of collective impact – They are a neat summary and should be able to be applied to the UK Third sector – certainly gives us something to think about.
- Shared Measurement Systems
- Mutually Reinforcing Activities
- Continuous Communication
- Common Agenda
- Backbone Support Organizations
This paragraph sums up the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead…
It may seem impossible to evaluate hundreds of different organizations on the same set of measures. Yet recent advances in Web-based technologies have enabled common systems for reporting performance and measuring outcomes. These systems increase efficiency and reduce cost. They can also improve the quality and credibility of the data collected, increase effectiveness by enabling stakeholders to learn from each other’s performance, and document the progress of the field as a whole
Collecting data and measuring results consistently on a short list of indicators at the community level and across all participating organizations not only ensures that all efforts remain aligned, it also enables the participants to hold each other accountable and learn from each other’s successes and failures.
The multiple causes of social problems, and the components of their solutions, are interdependent. They cannot be addressed by uncoordinated actions among isolated organizations.
All of this requires co-ordination, support and a will to work together. Co-ordination takes time and a strong infrastructure is needed – that does not happen naturally – it needs persistence, patience and effort – without it many things will fail.
The whole article is here .
I will be discussing this in detail, hearing experiences and starting our collective action as a sector at a first event in June.
This is an opportunity for the Third Sector to lead the change we want and need to see in society. There are a few places left. Find out more here.
The whole article is here .