The backbone is a critical but often behind-the-scenes function in collective impact initiatives. “Understanding the Value of Backbone Organizations in Collective Impact” was originally published as a four-part blog series on Stanford Social Innovation Review and provides guidance for collective impact funders and practitioners from ֱ and The Greater Cincinnati Foundation on the role of the backbone and how to understand and support its effectiveness. This article appeared on www.ssireview.org.
Top Takeaways
- Individual organizations could not do the work of collective impact without backbone support.
- Backbone organizations shift focus over time. Backbone organization leaders and their stakeholders alike feel that there is a natural progression from guiding vision and strategy, supporting aligned activities, and establishing shared measurement practices to deeper involvement in policy and resource mobilization.
- Backbone organizations’ partners need ongoing assistance with data. Although establishing shared measurement practices was seen broadly as a strength of many of the backbone organizations, building partners’ capacity to contribute and use data in a shared measurement system is a common area for improvement.
- External communications, building public will, and advancing policy are common backbone challenges.
For those who are considering how to undertake or support a collective impact initiative, one fundamental truth about backbone effectiveness is that its leader can make or break the organization’s success.
