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Collective Impact

Address a major challenge by working with other organizations toward a common goal

Introduction

How do we move the needle on a complex community issue?

Collective Impact enables a group of organizations to address a major challenge by developing an integrated plan of interventions that fundamentally changes population-level outcomes in a community.

When successful, communities solve big complex challenges (e.g., youth unemployment, low graduation rates, poverty) or make substantial societal shifts (e.g., more sustainable food systems) by creating a shared multi-sector understanding of the problem, a common vision, and an action plan with shared measurements and reinforcing activities.

Based on our experience working with Collective Impact initiatives, Innoweave has adapted the original five conditions of Collective Impact (Kania & Kramer, 2012) to underscore and prioritize the need for common outcome goals and approaches:

Priority # 1

  • Clearly define population-level outcome goals

Priority # 2

  • Define a clear model of the integrated efforts required to achieve those goals

Once Priorities #1 and #2 have been defined, they are supported by:

  • Shared measurement of outcomes and leading indicators
  • Continuous communication and improvement
  • Backbone coordination and support

 

Collective Impact initiatives can help with issues that:

  • Are difficult to address, and change with every attempt to address them
  • Involve multiple stakeholders with different values and priorities
  • Have causes and drivers that are interdependent
  • Are filled with uncertainties and unknowns
  • Require multiple new solutions that will need to be constantly tested and adjusted

Collective Impact process

The Innoweave Collective Impact process helps groups of community organizations apply the Collective Impact approach to achieve a shared population-level impact goal. Through customized coaching and launch funds, the process is designed to help groups build a comprehensive plan on how to move forward with a successful Collective Impact initiative.

Collective Impact (Early Support)

Collaboratives will be able to apply for up to $10,000 worth of Collective Impact coaching to:

  • Develop their Intended Impact Statement and Theory of Change
  • Conduct data gathering, engagement, and validation of the Intended Impact Statement and Theory of Change
  • Develop an engagement strategy

Pre-requisite:

  • None

Collective Impact (Advanced Support)

Collaboratives will be able to apply for up to $46,500 of support.

Coaching (up to $6,500) – Support to develop a Collective Impact Action Plan, which can include:

  • Defining and confirming a governance model
  • Developing a learning agenda
  • Developing an evaluation measurement framework
  • Developing a communications plan

Launch Funding (up to $40,000) – Support for activities related to the launch of a Collective Impact initiative, which can include:

  • Hiring a backbone coordinator
  • Communications materials
  • Convening costs
  • Etc.

Pre-requisite:

  • Successfully completed Collective Impact (Early Support) coaching and have been invited to apply to Collective Impact (Advanced Support) by Innoweave staff.
  • Collaboratives that have strong elements of a Collective Impact plan already in place and believe that they need a customized approach to their coaching/funding should contact info@innoweave.ca to discuss options for moving forward.

The Innoweave self-assessment tool is designed to help you determine your organization's readiness and whether your initiative or program model is well suited for Collective Impact.

Self-
assessment

This assessment has 5 questions.

Please respond to each of the questions to the best of your ability by choosing the option that most accurately reflects your organizational context.

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Do you have a clearly articulated issue or challenge that you would like to address through Collective Impact?
Have you identified specific population-level impact goals that will help you achieve Collective Impact on your issue or challenge?
What level of engagement have you achieved within the community to advance this issue?
Will you be able to mobilize influential leaders across sectors to address this issue?
How confident are you that your team can secure the financial resources needed to advance your collective impact goals?

Info Session

For organizations interested in Innoweave’s Collective Impact stream, we encourage you to review our Collective Impact Information Session

Watch a recording

Info Sessions & Workshops

    No upcoming events.

Can’t find what you’re looking for? We might have more events in French. Or, contact the Innoweave team to discuss hosting a learning event for you and other organizations in your community.

Relevant Resources

Additional Resources

Coaches

Innoweave offers coaching support to organizations that are well positioned to implement a Collective Impact approach. Connect with an Innoweave coach to help you explore and implement your initiative. Then apply to Innoweave for funds to support that coaching engagement.

Ben Weinlick
Jane Ouillette headshot
Innoweave coach: Pieter de Vos headshot
Anthony Piscitelli headshot
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Apply for support

Your organization is eligible to apply for Innoweave coaching support if one of the following applies: 1. Collective Impact (Early Support): You have submitted an Expression of Interest and it has been approved. 2. Collective Impact (Advanced Support): Successfully completed Collective Impact (Early Support) coaching and have been invited to apply to Collective Impact (Advanced Support) by Innoweave staff.

Apply Now

FAQ

These are our most frequently asked questions.

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How do I know if Collective Impact is the right approach?

It can be difficult to determine whether the challenge you want to address actually requires a full Collective Impact approach. Check out the self-assessment on this page or connect with Innoweave (info@innoweave.ca) to explore this idea. Keep in mind that Collective Impact is one of the most intense and demanding forms of collaboration, and should be employed where such integration is essential.

Do I have to go through the Collective Impact (Early Support) process? Can my group access Collective Impact (Advanced Support) right away?

We understand that different groups will be at different stages of the process of developing their Collective Impact initiative. For groups who would like to engage in the process at a different stage, please reach out to us at info@innoweave.ca. Please note that Innoweave rarely offers launch grants to projects that have not first received some form of coaching.

We have a large network of partners and want to transform this into a Collective Impact initiative. How do we start?

Collective Impact coaching from Innoweave will ask you to first focus on a clear population-level outcome goal. Getting a large network of organizations to agree on this is possible but could require a great deal of time and effort. It can be more efficient to begin with a small core group and then grow the collaborative over time.