How do we make a collective impact? | By Amy Delamaide

For our staff meeting next week, CCSR personnel are reading an article from the Stanford Social Innovation Review by John Kania and Mark Kramer on “Collective Impact” (PDF, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Winter 2011). We hope to have a productive discussion about what it means related to our philosophy and strategies for our work with organizations and coalitions.

Kania and Kramer define collective impact as “the commitment of a group of important actors from different sectors to a common agenda for solving a specific social problem” (p. 36). These actors include funders, government officials, representatives from key agencies, individuals, and others. While the regular gathering of such a mix of people could be referred to as a coalition or collaboration, collective impact initiatives go beyond this by including “a centralized infrastructure, a dedicated staff, and a structured process that leads to a common agenda, shared measurement, continuous communication, and mutually reinforcing activities among all participants” (p. 38). What the authors argue is that, for some issues--including what the Kansas Leadership Center refers to as deep, daunting challenges--it’s not enough for one nonprofit organization to try to intervene for the better. Some issues require the engagement of nonprofits, governments, businesses, and the public to create real and lasting change.

Five-level social ecological model

Scott Wituk, our Director, often refers to the social ecological model, where four embedded circles indicate the scope of potential intervention from the individual in the center to the relationship to the community to the society at large. This comes out of the Centers for Disease Control’s work to prevent intimate partner violence, which is work Scott has partnered with the CDC on.
When CCSR considers this model, we see that our work in leadership development and certified peer counselor training impacts individuals. Our work with organizations affects the institutional level of the five circle version of the model. Often when we work with coalitions or collaborative efforts we engage with many different agencies within a sector, hoping to impact society at large.

What Kania and Kramer suggest is that there is a role for an organization—perhaps one like ours? or like yours?—to become a “Backbone Support Organization.” This would be an organization that consists of at least a project manager, data manager, and a facilitator. The people in these roles manage the overall change effort.

Some questions related to this article for CCSR--and your organization!--to consider:

• What is our past experience? Have any of the big projects we’ve been a part of met the key features of a collective impact initiative?
• What are the issue areas we want to see progress on? For which issues are we willing to be significantly involved in managing a collective impact initiative?
• How could we increase our impact at the society level of the social ecological model?

Has your organization discussed these questions? What conclusions did you come to? Let us know in the comments below.

Our organization plans to discuss this article more next week. Look for a follow up blog post with some details on our conversation.

What makes a good Executive Director? | By Amy Delamaide

In the summer of 2002, I got the opportunity to volunteer full-time with two Wichita nonprofit organizations.  One of those organizations was the Lord’s Diner. I served at the Lord’s Diner 3-4 evenings a week that summer and got to know Wendy Glick, who was the Volunteer Coordinator at the time. Wendy went on to become the Executive Director. I stopped volunteering my time but continued supporting the organization as a (very small) donor.

The Wichita Eagle reported last week that Wendy is stepping down as Executive Director of the Lord’s Diner in mid-July.

My experience of working with Wendy and the announcement of her impending departure made me reflect on what I learned from Wendy’s example as an Executive Director. 

Sticky note with a message on it from Wendy that I keep on my bulletin board.

Keep in touch. When I stopped volunteering, Wendy kept in touch with me. I was on the Lord’s Diner mailing list and got their regular newsletter and donation appeals. About once or twice a year, I made a small contribution to the Lord’s Diner. I would get a letter in the mail thanking me for my donation and stating the amount for my tax records. Often, these letters had a quick “Hello, Amy!” from Wendy hand-written on the letter. Now, the Lord’s Diner probably sends out hundreds of thank you letters. But Wendy took the time to say hello to someone who gave just a little. And that meant a lot to me. It has been what keeps me connected to the organization and interested in its welfare—and, importantly, it has kept me contributing financially.

Know your mission. I love the way Wendy and the Lord’s Diner board members communicate the mission of the Lord’s Diner, even in a Wichita Eagle article announcing Wendy’s departure. “‘This is as pure of a mission statement you can have: Feed the hungry, no questions asked,’” said Pete Meitzner, the board chairperson. This is an organization that knows its purpose and speaks to it regularly.

Stick to your mission. I remember a decision Wendy made in late 2002 or early 2003. It was winter, and the Lord’s Diner had been donated some hats and scarves to distribute to those who needed them. The donation was appreciated, but it also caused some difficulty. The Lord’s Diner did not have a system in place for distributing hats and scarves. Its purpose is to serve meals. It has systems and procedures set up to optimize the serving of food. In fact, distributing clothing would distract its small staff and its many volunteers from their purpose of nourishing people with food. So Wendy made the tough decision not to accept donations of clothing to distribute, trusting that there were organizations in place to receive and distribute such items. She helped the organization stick to its mission.

Wherever life takes Wendy next, I wish her the best. And I wish the best for the Lord’s Diner as it transitions from Wendy to an interim director to a new Executive Director. May their next director be as people-oriented and mission-driven as Wendy.