Collective Impact conditions

All partners must share the same vision of change. This includes an understanding of the issues and a collective approach to resolving the problem through concerted action. The analysis, planning, action and evaluation are all made easier by virtue of the clearly defined vision.

The engagement of diverse stakeholders, typically across sectors, that join together and pool their resources so they can more effectively take action together. They adjust and coordinate their service offers to align with the set priorities, and their collaboration and collective action are based on an action plan.

The sum of the interventions contributed by each partner does not in itself guarantee a productive synergy between them. The challenge is to make sure that the interventions are mutually reinforcing and thereby produce a bigger impact. To live up to this standard, a group of organizations need to send out and use the same messages and tools, and coordinate and harmonize their welcoming practices, support and referral services for families everywhere in the community.

The partners must agree on a system for observing the evolution of the project and measuring its outcomes. One way of doing this is to refer to a short list of shared indicators.

Embracing a continuous learning approach means we need to identify any challenges and failures as readily as we point out the successes and view them as opportunities for further improvement.

The different stakeholders must establish regular and open communication habits in order to maintain the trust-based relationships, keep track of the shared goals, and reinforce each other’s motivation.

The backbone organization allows for best-possible coordination of the collective action. It can take several forms depending on the scope of the action plan. The elements listed below are generally included in the organization of operating procedures:

• A steering or coordinating committee composed of community partners
• Working committees, including parents’ committees
• One or several paid individuals dedicated to the collective initiative but who aren’t associated with any particular organization. These individuals provide ongoing support as they guide the vision and the implementation of the collective project, in particular by organizing activities and evaluation practices and mobilizing the necessary resources.

The same organizational model can find application in a range of contexts, including human resources, financial resources, external support, reference frameworks, training, communities of practice, governance structure, etc.

The coordinating function, an indispensable key role

Individuals who wish to lead and support a partnership approach must be committed to functioning as a coordinator. Coordinators devote themselves to building and maintaining links with each of the partners involved, soliciting their respective skills and competencies so these can be put to use in concrete activities that allow the collective project to move forward and progress.