"Communities and organizations around the world are adopting a different mindset to achieve large-scale systemic change through collective impact... As cross-sector groups engage more deeply in this practice, funders and practitioners alike find ourselves probing for answers to the question: How do you do this work well?" - Shiloh Turner, Kathy Merchant, John Kania & Ellen Martin (Stanford Social Innovation Review)

Are you interested in understanding and exploring the value of backbone organizations in Collective Impact? The Greater Cincinnatti Foundation and FSG partnered together to explore the topic of how Collective Impact work can be done well by investigating the following four questions: 

1. How and to what extent are backbone organizations effective catalysts for achieving community-level progress? 
2. How and to what extent do backbone organizations contribute to improved social outcomes?
3. How is success best measured for backbone organizations?
4. What common challenges and best practices can be shared across backbone organizations? 

Check out this fantastic four-part exploration in the Stanford Social Innovation Review on what it takes to be a backbone organization, and how to evaluate and support it's work.

Understanding the Value of Backbone Organizations in Collective Impact: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4

Are you interested in taking your learning to the next level?

• Take a look at a small collection of Collective Impact learning resources
• Explore the concept of Collective Leadership for Collective Impact
• Join the Tamarack team in beautiful Halifax, Nova Scotia April 19-21 for the 2016 Champions for Change workshop