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Many of the insights in this guide are drawn from the current literature on the use of networks for social impact. Each of the sources listed below is cited in at least one place in the guide. To see the sources that are specific to a page, scroll down to the footer of that page and click “Sources.” This list includes only written sources; for a list of the interviewees and other direct contributors, see About This Guide.

Allen et. al.

Achieving Collective Impact for Opportunity Youth. Article by Lili Allen, Monique Miles, and Adria Steinberg in Stanford Social Innovation Review, Fall 2014. Pages 20-22.

Achieving Collective Impact for Opportunity Youth

This article provides strategies for using network approaches to improve outcomes for low-income young people. Examples include using data, braided funding, and private investment.

Althoff

Developing Large Systems Change Leadership. Webinar with Klaus Althoff, Senior Programme Manager at Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit. Delivered May 28th 2014.

Developing Large Systems Change Leadership

This webinar identified four “critical competency domains” leaders need to solve complex problems on a global scale, explains the skills in detail, and outlines a five-step “leadership journey” to develop the skills.

Auspos

Complexity and Community Change: Managing Adaptively to Improve Effectiveness. Report by Patricia Auspos and Mark Cabaj at The Aspen Institute, September 2014. Pages 6-83.

Complexity and Community Change

This report provides a deep history of academic thinking on complexity, along with implications and strategies for managers in complex environments.

Barber, Florida, and Tapscott

A ‘Global Parliament of Mayors’ Governance Network. Report by Benjamin Barber, Richard Florida, and Don Tapscott. Published by Global Solutions Network, August 5th 2014. Pages 6-22.

A ‘Global Parliament of Mayors’ Governance Network

This report argues that the world’s great social challenges have outgrown the structures designed to tackle them, and proposes a global network of mayors to take coordinated actions against the challenges that cities are uniquely positioned to address.

Bartczak

The Role of Grantmakers in Collective Impact. Article by Lori Bartczak in Stanford Social Innovation Review, Fall 2014. Pages 8-10.

The Role of Grantmakers in Collective Impact

This article provides strategies for potential funders of collective impact efforts, which may require a different approach than traditional investments. The author argues that funders should fund the “costs of collaboration,” enabling the critical relationship-building that give social impact networks their power.

Bliss

How Social Innovation Labs Contribute to Transformative Change. Post by Amira Bliss on The Rockefeller Foundation blog, October 1st 2014.

How Social Innovation Labs Contribute to Transformative Change

Building on How Social Innovation Labs Design and Scale Impact, this post shares what The Rockefeller Foundation has learned about the value and uses of social innovation labs in its investigation into this new form of social impact network.

Bunker and Alban

The Handbook of Large Group Methods: Creating Systemic Change in Organizations and Communities. Book by Barbara Bunker and Benedict Alban, June 16th 2006.

The Handbook of Large Group Methods

This book offers a comprehensive guide to the many methods for facilitating interactive conversation in groups of hundreds or thousands, illustrated with in-depth case studies.

Cabaj

Evaluating Collective Impact: Five Simple Rules. Article by Mark Cabaj in The Philanthropist, Summer 2014. Pages 112-119.

Evaluating Collective Impact: Five Simple Rules

This article contrasts traditional evaluation with the needs of collective impact, arguing that the process can be adapted to facilitate learning and capture unintended consequences. It also contains a brief case study with practical examples of how to adapt an evaluation approach for collective impact.

Collective Impact Forum

Advice for Collective Impact Funders. Videos by Collective Impact Forum, 2014.

Advice for Collective Impact Funders (videos)

These brief videos contain advice from funders and grantees of organizations engaging in collective impact.

Collective Impact Forum

Roundtable on Community Engagement and Collective Impact. Article by Collective Impact Forum in Stanford Social Innovation Review, Fall 2014. Pages 12-14.

Roundtable on Community Engagement and Collective Impact

The Collective Impact Forum convened leaders across the spectrum of collective impact stakeholders for a roundtable discussion. This wide-ranging conversation includes discussion around the importance and challenge of robust community engagement.

Easterling

Achieving Synergy With Collaborative Problem Solving: The Value of System Analysis. Article by Douglas Easterling, Elizabeth Mayfield Arnold, and Jessica Jones in The Foundation Review, May 1st 2013. Pages 2-13.

Achieving Synergy With Collaborative Problem Solving

This article argues that to produce systems change outcomes, “collaboratives” must develop a high-leverage strategy, which requires a broad understanding of the system surrounding a problem, rather than a narrow or specific focus on one aspect of the problem. It also provides a case study of the Reclaiming Futures model in juvenile justice, which provides a schematic for building a network and achieving collective action to improve the juvenile justice system in a given community.

Easterling

Building the Capacity of Networks to Achieve Systems Change. Article by Douglas Easterling in The Foundation Review, August 3rd 2012. Pages 2-12.

Building the Capacity of Networks to Achieve Systems Change

This article describes how the staff of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation work with networks. Rather than convening a new network around the foundation’s interests, or funding an existing network as it might a typical grantee, this foundation’s officers take a capacity-building approach and spend considerable time and effort becoming personally involved in networks to make them more effective.

Easterling

Getting to Collective Impact: How Funders Can Contribute Over the Life Course of the Work. Article by Douglas Easterling in The Foundation Review, January 1st 2013. Pages 2-16.

Getting to Collective Impact

This article casts a critical eye on the practices of funders who support “collective impact” networks, raising the concern that funders too often exert a degree of control that steers the network in a direction that primarily serves their own interests, compromising the other participants’ motivation to contribute and the networks’ ability to deliver more than a collection of individual grants.

Edmondson

Backbone Organization or Backbone Function? Blog post by Jeff Edmondson on StriveTogether.org, December 3rd, 2013.

Backbone Organization or Backbone Function?

This post by the founder of StrivePartnership and StriveTogether reframes the “backbone organization” commonly created in collective impact networks as the “backbone function,” arguing that the human resources required to run a network need not sit in an independent organization if those resources can be found within the network’s participants.

Edmondson

The Role of Investors: Lessons Learned on Critical Roots that Drive Quality Collective Impact. Blog post by Jeff Edmondson on StriveTogether.org, August 6th 2014.

The Role of Investors

This post in the Collective Impact Forum argues that funders must embrace a different mindset when funding network solutions, and provides strategies to make the most of investments in collective impact.

Edmondson and Hecht

Defining Quality Collective Impact. Article by Jeff Edmondson and Ben Hecht in Stanford Social Innovation Review, Fall 2014. Pages 6-7.

Defining Quality Collective Impact

This article provides four principles to help collective impact participants bring rigor to their efforts through continuous improvement. It also details a theory of action used to guide education-focused collective impact efforts at StriveTogether, from starting new partnerships to robust “proof points.”

Enright et. al.

Investing in Change: Funding Collective Impact Efforts. Webinar with Kathleen Enright, Fay Hanleybrown, Emily Tow Jackson, and Ken Thompson, September 25th 2012. Hosted by FSG.

Investing in Change: Funding Collective Impact Efforts

This set of slides from a panel discussion provides a broad overview of funder roles in collective impact: reasons and ways to engage, strategies for success, and case studies based on participants’ work. It argues that funders must embrace a new, “adaptive” mindset across the organization to be successful.

Ertel and Solomon

Moments of Impact: How to Design Strategic Conversations that Accelerate Change. Book by Chris Ertel and Lisa Kay Solomon, February 2014.

Moments of Impact

This book describes how to craft “strategic conversations”: group dialogue that is designed to combine the best ideas of people with different backgrounds and perspectives. Done right, a strategic conversation lifts participants above the fray of daily concerns and narrow self-interest, reconnecting them to their greater, collective purpose. Carefully-crafted strategic conversation is critical in forming and developing networks, starting from the very earliest stages.

Ferber and White

Making Public Policy Collective Impact Friendly. Article by Thaddeus Ferber and Erin White in Stanford Social Innovation Review, Fall 2014. Pages 22-23.

Making Public Policy Collective Impact Friendly

This article addresses the challenges that network solutions can present to governmental organizations whose policies and grants often reflect more traditional approaches. It provides steps that government leaders can take to adopt a network mindset, along with early examples of social impact networks that are producing strong results through collaboration with the government.

Fine

Strengthening Collaborations to Build Social Movements: Ten Lessons from the Communities for Public Education Reform Fund (CPER). Report by Melinda Fine and Lauren Jacobs on theneodifference.org, Fall 2014.

Strengthening Collaboration to Build Social Movements

This report focuses on the financial and physical logistics of supporting a network. The authors present lessons for grantmakers with a particular emphasis on creating alliances with powerful stakeholders, even those whose interests are not directly tied to organizations’ strategic goals.

Flower and Muoio

GATHER: The Art & Science of Effective Convening. Guidebook by Noah Rimland Flower and Anna Muoio, co-published by Monitor Institute and The Rockefeller Foundation, June 2014. Pages 8-60.

GATHER: The Art & Science of Effective Convening

This guidebook can help any convening designer or social change leader create convenings that tap into a group’s collective intelligence and make substantial progress on a shared challenge.

It provides simple frameworks for the questions that are often ignored: whether convening is the right tool to use to advance a strategic agenda, and how a convening can be used to achieve a specific purpose. It then helps readers understand how to customize the design to fit that purpose, laying out a clear series of steps for what is a naturally chaotic workflow. It then offers principles to use for each of the many tactical choices involved.

FSG

Champions for Change: Leading a Backbone Organization for Collective Impact. Materials from a workshop produced by FSG, March 6-8, 2013.

Champions for Change

This collection of workshop materials addresses a range of topics around how to lead a backbone organization on the “collective impact” model, where it is a freestanding organization that is separate from those of the network’s participants. It addresses the roles of the backbone organization, how to lead amidst complexity, developing shared measures, community engagement, collaborative governance, and mobilizing resources.

FSG

Collective Impact Readiness Assessment Tool. Created by FSG.

Collective Impact Readiness Tool

This survey helps groups of organizations assess whether collective impact fits with their goals, whether useful pre-conditions exist, and what components of a collective-impact network are already present.

Gibson and MacKinnon

Funder Collaboratives: How and Why Funders Work Together. Report by Cynthia Gibson and Anne MacKinnon for GrantCraft.org, January 1st 2010. Pages 1-23.

Funder Collaboratives: How and Why Funders Work Together

This report analyzes the trend of grantmakers working together to make grants. The authors offer strategies for resolving conflicts, enhancing impact, and assessing performance of collaborative grants.

Hassan

The Social Labs Revolution: A New Approach to Solving our Most Complex Challenges. Book by Zaid Hassan, published February 2014 by Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

The Social Labs Revolution

This book describes the practice of “social labs,” a new type of social impact network that brings together a diverse group to develop, prototype, test, and evolve new solutions over a defined period of time.

Holley

An Introduction to Network Weaving. Book by June Holley. Published February 2012 on Network Weaver.

An Introduction to Network Weaving

This book describes the practices required to enable and lead a social impact network, focusing on the central role of the “network weaver” and providing extensive detail about the behaviors and mindset that distinguish working in a network from work in a typical organizational setting.

Holman et. al

The Change Handbook: The Definitive Resource on Today’s Best Methods for Engaging Whole Systems. Book by Peggy Holman, Tom Devane, and Steven Cady, January 4th 2007.

The Change Handbook

This book offers an in-depth guide to the many methods for using a group to change large-scale social systems. It describes 61 tools for facilitating group process in service of a wide range of goals, including appreciative inquiry, community summits, dynamic planning, open space, scenario planning, and world café.

Irby and Boyle

Aligning Collective Impact Initiatives. Article by Merita Irby and Patrick Boyle in Stanford Social Innovation Review, Fall 2014. Pages 15-16.

Aligning Collective Impact Initiatives

This article argues that overlapping collective impact efforts in a community degrade results and waste resources. It includes a brief case study of one organization that coordinated these efforts to improve effectiveness and efficiency.

Jarosewich et. al.

Measuring Dimensions of Network Functioning: The KnowHow2GO Network Survey. Article by Tania Jarosewich, Censeo Group, Nushina Mir, and Linda Simkin in The Foundation Review, 2013. Pages 14-18.

Measuring Dimensions of Network Functioning: The KnowHow2GO Network Survey

This article provides in-depth analysis of the dimensions of network approaches and key factors for success. The authors argue that one key to understanding a network’s effectiveness is to assess whether the strategy increased capacity for participants and affected the results they were able to achieve.

Johnson

The genius of the tinkerer: the secret to innovation is combining odds and ends. Article by Steven Johnson in The Wall Street Journal, September 25th 2010.

The Genius of the Tinkerer

This article makes the argument at the core of Johnson’s book Where Good Ideas Come From: that innovation comes much more often from combining different perspectives on a problem, by drawing on insights from different places and disciplines, than it does from a sudden flash of inspiration that occurs in a single isolated mind. His concept of exploring the “adjacent possible” for promising new ideas was one inspiration for the Reimagine Learning network.

Kaner et. al.

Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decision-Making, 3rd Edition. Handbook by Sam Kaner with Lenny Lind, Catherine Toldi, Sarah Fisk, and Duane Berger, April 28th 2014.

Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decision-Making

This handbook helps a facilitator support groups in doing their best thinking together. It offers a framework for designing any group interaction and a diverse suite of exercises for accomplishing different flavors of collaborative work.

Kania

Don’t Talk to Me About Driving Social Change. Blog post by John Kania on CollectiveImpactForum.org, November 24th 2014.

Don’t Talk to Me About Driving Social Change

This blog post argues that systems change cannot be forced or “driven,” but rather, leaders must create the conditions in which others can make progress. Kania, one of the co-authors of Collective Impact, explains why social change is best accomplished by enabling connectivity and collective action within a group rather than promoting a specific agenda.

Kania and Kramer

Collective Impact. Article by John Kania and Mark Kramer in Stanford Social Innovation Review, Winter 2011. Pages 38-41.

Collective Impact

This article first introduced the term “collective impact” to describe a particular type of social impact network, arguing for the value of these networks and illustrating how they function by telling the story of StrivePartnership and a number of other examples.

Kania and Kramer

Embracing Emergence: How Collective Impact Addresses Complexity. Article by John Kania and Mark Kramer in Stanford Social Innovation Review, January 21 2013. Pages 1-15.

Embracing Emergence: How Collective Impact Addresses Complexity

This article outlines key challenges to producing social change, and how collective-impact networks can overcome those. The authors argue that funders can help collaborative efforts tackle complex problems by enabling greater learning, both by influencing participants to collaborate and by adjusting traditional approaches to evaluation.

Kania et. al.

Essential Mindset Shifts for Collective Impact. Article by John Kania, Fay Hanleybrown, and Jennifer Splansky Juster in Stanford Social Innovation Review, Fall 2014. Pages 2-5.

Essential Mindset Shifts for Collective Impact

This article details critical mindset shifts that participants in collective impact must take. The authors provide insight about who should be at the table, how they should work together, and how that work can adapt and evolve over time.

Kanter

How Networked Nonprofits Visualize Their Networks. Post by Beth Kanter on Beth’s Blog, January 25th 2011.  

How Networked Nonprofits Visualize Their Networks

This post provides a basic introduction to the use of social network mapping, both using low-tech pen-and-paper methods and software tools. (At the time of this guide’s release, the two most commonly used software tools are NodeXL and Kumu.)

Kasper et. al.

Harnessing Collaborative Technologies: Helping Funders Work Together Better. Report and interactive tool by Gabriel Kasper, Kristi Kimball, Steven Lawrence, and Lisa Philp. Co-produced by Monitor Institute and The Foundation Center,  November 2013.

Harnessing Collaborative Technologies

This report and its accompanying interactive tool provides funders with a simple framework for making sense of more than 170 different online tools for sharing information and working together. A strong majority of these tools are applicable to funders’ collaboration with fellow participants in a network.

Kimball and Kopell

Letting Go. Article by Kristi Kimball and Malka Kopell in Stanford Social Innovation Review, Spring 2011. Pages 38-41.

Letting Go

This article argues that foundations have a strong tendency to micro-manage how social problems are solved, recommending that funders should instead strive to be “tight on goals and loose on means,” a key component of the mindset that enables a funder to engage effectively with a network.

Kimball et. al.

Final Evaluation – Disease Surveillance Networks Initiative. Report by Ann Marie Kimball, Neil Abernathy, Sara Curran, and Mary Kay Gugerty. Published by The Rockefeller Foundation, February 2011.

Final Evaluation – Disease Surveillance Networks Initiative

This report analyzes the early stages of a network designed to improve early detection of disease outbreaks in southeast Asia and Africa. It highlights the role funders can play, not only in providing resources in support, but also in lending credibility to a new initiative.

Klaus

Collective Impact 3.0. Blog post by Tom Klaus on tamarackcci.ca, October 27th 2014.

Collective Impact 3.0

This blog post explains the need to balance “content experts” with “context experts” in a network approach, while noting frustration that “collective impact” risks becoming a generic term for collaboration if not used more carefully.

Krebs

A Brief Introduction to Social Network Analysis. Website by Valdis Krebs.

A Brief Introduction to Social Network Analysis

This website introduces the basic concepts of social network analysis, a common method of charting the relationships among participants in a network that can be useful in visually assessing patterns in those connections.

Kumar

101 Design Methods: A Structured Approach for Driving Innovation in Your Organization. Book by Vijay Kumar, October 11th 2012.

101 Design Methods

This book breaks down the art of innovation and design into a practical science, provides a set of collaborative tools and methods for planning and defining any new offering or initiative. Its methods are particularly relevant for networks focused on designing and prototyping new solutions.

Lipmanowicz and McCandless

The Surprising Power of Liberating Structures: Simple Rules to Unleash A Culture of Innovation. Book by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless, April 1st 2014.

The Surprising Power of Liberating Structures

This book provides a hands-on toolkit for designing and facilitating interactions that will tap a group’s full creativity. It offers both broad guidance on the principles of effective group process design and a set of 30 short workshop tools for structuring short exercises.

Malinksy and Lubelsky

Network Evaluation: Cultivating Healthy Networks for Social Change. Report by Eli Malinsky and Chad Lubelsky on SocialInnovation.ca, July 2010.

Network Evaluation

This report argues that network evaluation is underdeveloped in theory and practice. The authors provide strategies and rationales for network evaluators to focus on the ecosystem, processes, and outcomes of a network, rather than taking a more traditional approach.

Mann

The Role of Philanthropy in Collective Impact. Article by Cathy Mann in The Philanthropist, Summer 2014. Pages 5-6.

The Role of Philanthropy in Collective Impact

This article provides insight for funders about why and how funders should adjust their mindset to fund network approaches. The author argues that funders must be flexible, balance their role as funder and facilitator, and encourage participants to be candid about early failure.

Manville

You Need a Community, Not a Network. Blog post by Brook Manville for the Harvard Business Review, September 15th 2014.

You Need a Community, Not a Network

This post argues that networks, which the author believes are better termed “communities,” require long-term commitment and continuity of relationships to achieve any specific goal. Critical to their effectiveness, the author argues, is for participants to feel accountable for their own performance and to hold each other accountable.

Marshall

Addressing the Climate Crisis with Networks of the Willing and Committed. Article by Edward Marshall on Global Solution Networks, September 18th 2014. Pages 13-40.

Addressing the Climate Crisis with Networks of the Willing and Committed

This article outlines how a global network could be built to combat climate change, arguing that current efforts have succeeded in bringing the issue to the center of public debate but have failed to produce meaningful action.

McLeod Grant

Transformer: How to Build a Network to Change a System. Case study by Heather McLeod Grant at Monitor Institute, fall 2010.

Transformer: How to Build a Network to Change a System

This case study describes the formation of the RE-AMP network, which connects over 165 nonprofits and funders in eight Midwestern states who share the goal of reducing the region’s carbon emissions 80% by 2050. It provides a history of how the network developed and extracts six general principles of network design for other network-minded entrepreneurs to carry forward.

Nee and Jolin

Roundtable on Collective Impact. Article by Eric Nee and Michelle Jolin in Stanford Social Innovation Review, Fall 2012.

Roundtable on Collective Impact

This article features a number of early collective impact practitioners discussing their experiences. Panelists provide advice on how networks can be helpful, as well as early resistance to their efforts and how similar forces can be overcome.

Network Impact

The State of Network Evaluation. Guide published by Network Impact, July 2014. Pages 2-52.

The State of Network Evaluation

This guide provides a detailed examination of the evaluation of networks, including what makes them unique, what elements can be evaluated, and what challenges remain for the field.

Ortiz

Data Visualizations by Moebio Labs. Created by Santiago Ortiz and Moebio Labs.

Data Visualizations by Moebio Labs

This website contains examples of advanced data visualizations that might be adapted for use in network approaches, including an interactive global map of a donation network’s resource flow that can display various time ranges and countries.

Owen

Open Space Technology: A User’s Guide. Book by Harrison Owen, April 1st 2008.

Open Space Technology

This book provides detailed guidance on the use of “open space,” a group process tool for a group to co-creating the structure of an event based on the participants’ preferences, which is particularly useful in a network setting for structuring part or all of an in-person convening. A shorter introduction to the concept can be found at openspaceworld.org.

Parkhurst and Preskill

Learning In Action: Evaluating Collective Impact. Article by Marcie Parkhurst and Hallie Preskill in Stanford Social Innovation Review, Fall 2014. Pages 17-19.

Learning in Action: Evaluating Collective Impact

Despite the challenge of evaluating non-traditional network approaches, evaluation remains a critical component and a key contributor to the continuous learning needed for success. This article provides ways to evaluate collective impact efforts at all stages of development through a variety of different techniques.

Pereira

Collaboration and Foundation Leadership: Challenges, Opportunities, and Impact. Article by Jennifer Pereira in The Foundation Review, 2013. Pages 15-24.

Collaboration and Foundation Leadership

This article argues that foundations are well-positioned to enable the growth and success of networks, given their leadership role and ability to convene. Foundations can also connect local network participants to national networks of resources.

Phillips

Committing to Collective Impact: from Vision to Implementation. Article by David Phillips and Jennifer Splansky Juster in Community Investments, Spring 2014. Pages 4-7.

Committing to Collective Impact

This article focuses on the role of working groups within a collective impact initiative. The authors outline key factors for consideration including timing, identification of participants, and their role within the broader network.

Plastrik and Taylor

Net Gains: A Handbook for Network Builders Seeking Social Change. Book by Peter Plastrik and Madeleine Taylor on NetworkImpact.org, 2006.

Net Gains

This book offered one of the first significant bodies of guidance on the art of weaving social impact networks. Core to the authors’ argument is that funders who engage with networks must be willing to relinquish the level of control that they would typically demand of a grantee.

Plastrik, Taylor, and Cleveland

Connecting to Change the World: Harnessing the Power of Networks for Social Impact. Book by Peter Plastrik, Madeleine Taylor, and John Cleveland. Published September 29, 2014 by Island Press.

Connecting to Change the World

This book describes the role of networks in solving social problems, including a chapter providing roles and lessons for “network engineers.” The authors argue that networks are “managed chaos,” which can be a source of vitality when approached with the proper mindset.

Preskill et. al.

Evaluating Complexity: Propositions for Improving Practice. Report by Hallie Preskill, Srik Gopal, Katelyn Mack, and Joelle Cook on FSG.org, November 2014.

Evaluating Complexity

The authors outline nine characteristics of complex systems and nine related recommendations for evaluating networks. They emphasize the need for actors and systems that are sensitive not only to their own progress, but to the repercussions their efforts have upon broader sets of actors and systems. Taking such an expanded approach to evaluation is critical in working with a network.

Raynor et. al.

The Rockefeller Foundation Initiative Promoting Equitable and Sustainable Transportation: Federal Component. Report by Jared Raynor, Nadia, Gomes, Katherine Locke, and PeiYao Chen. Co-published by TCC Group and The Rockefeller Foundation, March 2012. Pages 10-57.

The Rockefeller Foundation Initiative Promoting Equitable and Sustainable Transportation: Federal Component

This report is an evaluation of The Rockefeller Foundation’s Initiative to Promote Equitable and Sustainable Transportation, launched in 2008, for which a primary goal was to influence federal transportation policy. Its description of The Foundation’s approach highlights the roles a funder can play in bringing public attention to an issue, connecting disparate stakeholders, and achieving policy reform.

Reott

Stop managing grants. Start managing your network. Article by Kimberly Manno Reott in Alliance Magazine, September 2014.

Stop Managing Grants. Start Managing Your Network.

This article argues that program officers must stop thinking of their role as managing a set of grants and instead consider what it means to be a network manager, if they want to achieve today’s ambitious goals of scaling solutions, building resilience, and catalyzing innovation.

Ritchie-Dunham

Ecosynomics: The Science of Abundance. Book by Jim Ritchie-Dunham with Bettye Pruitt, April 2014. Chapter 12.

Ecosynomics

This book describes how a group can create collective agreements to interact in a way that serves their collective goals. Chapter 12 describes the Energy Action Network of Vermont as a case study, and highlights the roles that a funder can play in a network. The author argues that a particularly productive role for a funder is to convene the participants and facilitate systems-level understanding of the issue at stake and the network’s collective goals.

Rockefeller Foundation

Midterm Evaluation, Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network. Report by Rockefeller Foundation published by the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network, April 2011. Pages 19-78.

Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network Evaluation

This report provides a glimpse into early successes and challenges of a network designed to build climate change resilience in Asia. Provides insight into the network structure that The Rockfeller Foundation used to build relationships across cities, describes the outcomes the network was able to achieve, and lessons for how funders and evaluators should engage with similar networks going forward.

Rose

Community Knowledge – The Building Blocks of Collective Impact. Article by Lee Rose in The Philanthropist, Summer 2014. Pages 3-4.

Community Knowledge

This article argues that while shared measurement can be a challenge for collective impact networks, a major component of the value of creating such a network is in its ability to bring together the many pieces of knowledge that are resident in the community, creating a more complete view of the issue that makes it possible for a group of stakeholders to arrive at a shared vision.

Ryan

Power Dynamics in Collective Impact. Article by Mary Jean Ryan in Stanford Social Innovation Review, Fall 2014.

Power Dynamics in Collective Impact

This article describes how power shapes the relationships between funders and other participants in collective impact networks. The author provides strategies and insights for both balancing the relationship with grantees and enabling effective collaboration among grantees.

Scearce et. al.

Catalyzing Networks for Social Change: A Funder’s Guide. Handbook by Diana Scearce and the 80 members of the Network of Network Funders, co-published by Monitor Institute and Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, October 2011.

Catalyzing Networks for Social Change

This handbook is one of the first resources focused on the role of a funder in catalyzing networks, and is the original source of the “wheel” describing a network’s stages of development, as well as many of the functions that a network can serve. Its insights are principally drawn from the contributions of 80 funders who participated in a two-year community of practice called the Network of Network Funders.

Scearce et. al.

What If? The Art of Scenario Planning for Nonprofits. Book by Diana Scearce, Katherine Fulton, and the Global Business Network community. Published by the Global Business Network, July 2004. Available as a free download.

What If? The Art of Scenario Planning for Nonprofits

This book provides step-by-step guidance for using scenario thinking in a nonprofit context to inform strategic planning and long-term visioning with a deep understanding of the many trends that are reshaping the environment around an organization or network.

Schmitz

The Culture of Collective Impact. Blog post by Paul Schmitz on huffingtonpost.com, October 22nd 2014.

The Culture of Collective Impact

This post highlights the need for community trust and inclusion in a collective impact network, arguing that many of today’s multi-stakeholder efforts will need to change their culture to fulfill their potential.

Senge, Hamilton, and Kania

The Dawn of System Leadership.  Article by Peter Senge, Hal Hamilton, and John Kania. Published in Stanford Social Innovation Review, winter 2015.

The Dawn of System Leadership

This article describes the style of leadership and psychological mindset best suited to engaging with a network. The authors argue that the deep changes necessary to accelerate progress against society’s most intractable problems require a unique type of leader—the system leader, a person who catalyzes collective leadership.

Spann

Mapping systems using reality as a change agent to grow social impact. Video by Scott Spann, October 24th 2011.

Mapping systems using reality as a change agent to grow social impact

This 23-minute video provides a basic introduction to the concept and use of systems mapping for understanding complex social problems, illustrated by the case studies of RE-AMP and other social impact networks.

Summers and Honold

Weaving an Impactful Network. Article by Anne Summers and Linda Honold in The Foundation Review, 2013. Pages 43-47.

Weaving an Impactful Network

This article contends that while many nonprofits’ theory of change is based on the idea that that individual organizations’ outcomes can cause systems change, the truth is that systems change only happens through coordinated action designed to achieve a common goal.

Tapscott

Global Solution Networks: A Literature Review. Article by Don Tapscott on gsnetworks.org, 2013. Pages 7-18.

Global Solution Networks: A Literature Review

This literature review establishes a taxonomy of NGO types and functions, including the “global solution network” concept that forms the basis of future work.

Tapscott

Introducing: Global Solution Networks. Report by Don Tapscott, published by Global Solution Networks, 2013. Pages 5-47.

Introducing: Global Solution Networks

This report introduces and explains the concept of a “global solution network,” arguing that these networks are a better mechanism than national governments to address social problems of the scale and complexity seen today. It provides a taxonomy describing ten types of global solution networks and examples of each.

Tapscott and Amour

The Remarkable Internet Governance Network: Part I. (Continued in Part II). Report by Don Tapscott and Lynn St. Amour with Steve Caswell. Published by Global Solution Networks, March 24th 2014. Pages 11-24.

The Remarkable Internet Governance Network

This report describes the governance of the Internet as a case study of a “governance network,” one of the ten types of “global solution network” that Tapscott names in his taxonomy.

Tener

Collaborating from the Place of Common Ground. Post by Beth Tener on the New Directions Collaborative blog, January 8th 2014.

Collaborating from the Place of Common Ground

This post briefly describes the formation, accomplishments, and lessons learned by the Energy Action Network of Vermont, a social impact network focused on transitioning the state of Vermont to clean energy.

Tener

Funders’ Role in Catalyzing Collaboration in Networks (or Undermining It). Post by Beth Tener on the New Directions Collaborative blog, May 22nd 2013.

Funders’ Role in Catalyzing Collaboration in Networks (or Undermining It)

This post reviews the promise and perils of a funder’s involvement in creating a social impact network. The author argues that funders should encourage network-designed solutions, create conditions for collaboration, support measurement, and play a leadership role in empowering network participants.

Thompson

Re-reading ‘Collective Impact’: Three Lessons. Blog post by Chris Thompson in Stanford Social Innovation Review, February 3rd 2014.

Re-reading ‘Collective Impact’

This blog post reflects on lessons learned about how to build a network by the participants in the northeast Ohio funder collaborative Fund for Our Economic Future. The author focuses highlights two factors as particularly important: funders’ commitment to build capacity over multiple years and members’ openness to change.

Tiesinga

Labcraft: How Social Labs Cultivate Change Through Innovation and Collaboration. Book by Hendrik Tiesinga and eight co-authors, published July 28th 2014. Available as a free download.

Labcraft

This book was created by representatives from seven “social innovation labs” from around the world, sharing stories and observations about what it takes to create the enabling environment for a lab and navigate the unique dilemmas that emerge from this specific variety of social impact network.

Turner et. al.

Understanding the Value of Backbone Organizations in Collective Impact. Four-part blog post series by Shiloh Turner, Kathy Merchant, John Kania, and Ellen Martin in Stanford Social Innovation Review, July 17th-20th 2012.

Understanding the Value of Backbone Organizations in Collective Impact

This blog series focuses on the roles and value of a backbone function in “collective impact” networks. Many of the lessons it shares are drawn from the Greater Cincinnati Foundation’s role in establishing StrivePartnership to provide cradle-to-career support for the metro area’s youth.

Waddell

Systems Mapping for Non-Profits. (Part 1 and Part 2.) Two-part blog bost series by Steve Waddell on Beth’s Blog, October 30th 2009.

Systems Mapping for Non-Profits

This two-part series of blog posts provides a basic introduction to the use of systems mapping in the context of social problem-solving, a process that can often be useful in social impact networks in discussing the nature of the issue at stake and what combination of solutions could be the most effective.

Waddell

Addressing the world’s critical issues as complex change challenges: the state-of-the-field. Report by Steve Waddell, July 30th 2014. Pages 5-9.

Addressing the World’s Critical Issues as Complex Change Challenges

This report argues that the practice of addressing complex systemic challenges shows considerable promise, but it needs to be developed as a field in its own right–the field of “complex change.” On pages 5-9, the author describes the different types of social challenges and the most appropriate types methods for addressing each.

Wei-Skillern

The William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund: Catalyzing Networks and Collaboration. Case study by Jane Wei-Skillern in Harvard Business Review, June 30th 2014. Pages 1-16.

The William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund

This case study analyzes a Connecticut family foundation’s entry into education reform, taking a network-driven approach that resulted in the creation of a statewide agency aligned with its vision. Includes interviews with foundation leadership and grantees.

Wei-Skillern and Marciano

The Networked Nonprofit. Article by Jane Wei-Skillern and Sonia Marciano in Stanford Social Innovation Review, Spring 2008. Pages 40-43.

The Networked Nonprofit

This article explains the benefits to a nonprofit organization of working with other organizations in a social impact network, and argues that for networks to succeed, funders give up control and trust the network to find its own path to success.

Wei-Skillern and Silver

Four Network Principles for Collaboration Success. Article by Jane Wei-Skillern and Nora Silver in The Foundation Review, 2013. Pages 122-128.

Four Network Principles for Collaboration Success

This article provides strategies for funders to make the most of their investment in networks. The authors describe a different set of leadership and collaboration capabilities that both funders and grantees must embody for a social impact network succeed.

Wei-Skillern, Silver, and Heitz

Cracking the Network Code: Four Principles for Grantmakers. Report by Jane Wei-Skillern, Nora Silver, and Eric Heitz. Published by Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, June 26th 2013. Pages 5-23.

Cracking the Network Code

This report provides four core principles for funders to use in guiding their engagement with networks: (1) mission, not organization, (2) trust, not control, (3) humility, not brand, and (4) node, not hub, each of which is illustrated with case studies. Also provides a set of specific recommendations for putting these principles into practice.

Wright

The Tactics of Collaboration. Blog post by Steve Wright in Stanford Social Innovation Review, November 4th 2014.

The Tactics of Collaboration

This post focuses on the challenges of acknowledging individual vulnerabilities, relinquishing control, and pursuing goals that may not come in the form of deliverable solutions, but rather progress on reaching those solutions. The author outlines a four-part journey that leaders must undertake to shift their mindset to succeed in collaboration.