Building the Collaboration “Muscle”
Original post by Emily Wexler, July 14 2014 on the Collective Impact Forum
While several months back, May’s funder convening in Aspen showed that more grantmakers recognize that no single organization can go it alone when it comes to addressing social issues that are complex, dynamic and intersecting. With efforts like collective impact initiatives that are seeking to transform whole systems, grantmakers can play an essential role in encouraging and supporting nonprofits to work together to achieve better results. To borrow a term that came up many times during the forum, grantmakers are essential partners when it comes to building a community’s “civic muscle.”
For example, Stacey Stewart of United Way Worldwide shared how the United Way of Greater Milwaukee served as the backbone organization for an effort to reduce teen pregnancy in its community. The effort has been so successful in reducing this leading cause of poverty that the community was galvanized to tackle another pressing issue: infant mortality. By working with the community to build and flex its muscle to address one issue (teen pregnancy), the community built the capacity and confidence to take on another (infant mortality).
As much as funders would like to see more strategic collaboration among grantees, the reality……
