Knowledge Items
for Community Philanthropy

Collective Impact

Mark Kramer, John Kania

Large-scale social change requires broad cross-sector coordination, yet the social sector remains focused on the isolated intervention of individual organizations.

Article

Video

Event

What Is Collective Impact?

This series of short videos describes the concept of collective impact, and shows the 5 conditions of collective impact in action using The Elizabeth River Project and The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) as examples.

Video

Channeling Change: Making Collective Impact Work

Fay Hanleybrown, John Kania, Mark Kramer

Despite the difficulty of getting collective impact efforts off the ground, those involved report a new sense of optimism that dawns early on in the process.

Article

Understanding the Value of Backbone Organizations in Collective Impact

Shiloh Turner, Kathy Merchant, John Kania, Ellen Martin

An in-depth review of what it takes to be a backbone organization, and how to evaluate and support its work.

Article

Collective Impact Conference Video

This recorded livestream from the Collective Impact Conference on March 23, 2011 hosted by FSG and the Stanford Social Innovation Review is broken out into four sections.

Video

Embracing Emergence: How Collective Impact Addresses Complexity

John Kania, Mark Kramer

Collective impact brings actors together and creates the conditions that enable solutions to complex problems to emerge.

Article

Webinar

Do More Than Give

Leslie Crutchfield, John Kania, Mark Kramer

This book provides a blueprint for foundation leaders, trustees, and individual donors who want to catalyze change in the world.

Book

Video

Catalytic Philanthropy

Mark Kramer

Despite vast spending, philanthropists have fallen short. What we need: Catalytic Philanthropy.

Article

Video

Webinar

Better Outcomes, Lower Costs:
How Community-Based Funders Can Transform U.S. Health Care

Mark Kramer, Dr. Atul Gawande

Mark Kramer and Dr. Atul Gawande discuss the untapped potential for community-based funders to transform the cost and quality of health care in the United States.

Report

Video

White House Council for Community Solutions Collective Impact Session

John Kania leads a session on Collective Impact at the White House Council for Community Solutions, February 4, 2011.

Video

Do More Than Give - Leslie Crutchfield

Leslie Crutchfield talks about Do More Than Give, a book on catalytic philanthropy co-written with John Kania and Mark Kramer.

Video

Collective Impact: Implementing Shared Measurement

Fay Hanleybrown

This webinar is focused on the process of designing and implementing innovative shared measurement models, a key condition for collective impact.

Webinar

Presentation

Case Studies: How Four Community Information Projects Went from Idea to Impact

Amber Johnson Binkley, Carina Wendel, Madeleine Taylor, Hallie Preskill, John Kania

Case studies of local news and information projects supported by community foundations

Report

Gaining Perspective:
Lessons Learned From One Foundation’s Exploratory Decade

Veronica Borgonovi, Fay Hanleybrown, Hallie Preskill, David Zapol

Ten years after launching an ambitious strategy, the Northwest Area Foundation asked FSG to identify lessons learned from a decade of community-based work.

Report

Executive Summary

Collective Impact: Creating Large Scale Social Change Webinar

John Kania, Mark Kramer

This webinar features John Kania and Mark Kramer of FSG, in conversation with Jeff Edmondson, executive director of the Strive Partnership on the topic of Collective Impact.

Webinar

Presentation

Catalytic Philanthropy In India

Nidhi M. Reddy, Lalitha Vaidyanathan, Katyayani Balasubramanian, Kavitha Gorapalli, Sharad Sharma

This collaborative report from FSG and the Indian School of Business explores how India's largest givers can help solve critical social problems.

Report

From Crisis to Opportunity: Learning from One Region’s Response to the Economic Downturn

Rebecca Graves, Fay Hanleybrown, Veronica Borgonovi

Funders in one region of the U.S. demonstrate how difficult times spur innovative strategies by doing more with less. 

Report

Toolkit

Raising Money While Raising Hell: Catalytic Community Leadership and Successful Fundraising for Community Foundations

John Kania, Emily Gorin, Valerie Bockstette

Several foundations built their fundraising efforts by leading advocacy efforts, debunking the myth that these activities are naturally at odds.

Report

2011 Client Project Highlights

Highlights of FSG’s client project work from 2011; social impact projects that range from improving education in Oregon to fighting malaria.

Video

Community-Based Philanthropy and the Knight Community Information Challenge

Justin Bakule, John Kania, Ellen Martin, Hallie Preskill

Community and place-based foundations transform into high impact catalysts for change, by engaging with a broad range of community stakeholders.

Report

United Front 2011: The Power of Collective Impact

This video from Twin Cities United Way showcases Collective Impact efforts in Minnesota.

Video

Collective Impact: Creating Large Scale Social Change Presentation

John Kania, Mark Kramer

This presentation was created for the Collective Impact webinar and features the Strive Partnership as an example of a collective impact initiative.

Presentation

Webinar

Growing Smarter: Achieving Sustainability in Emerging Community Foundations

Eva Nico, Rebecca Graves, Tracy Foster, Fay Hanleybrown

This report focuses on solutions to a striking paradox: as community foundations grow their assets, their sustainability is often threatened.

Report

Executive Summary

Toolkit

Champions for Change: Workshop on Leading a Backbone Organization for Collective Impact

Learn about the exchange that took place between collective impact practitioners at the Backbone Workshop in Cincinnati, OH in March 2013.

Video

Community Foundation Economic Scenario Planning (ESP) Tool

John Kania, Rebecca Graves, Melissa Scott, Diana Esposito, Valerie Bockstette

A new interactive tool allows community foundations to test the impact of changes in market conditions on their business.

Toolkit

Better Outcomes, Lower Costs:
How Community-Based Funders Can Transform U.S. Health Care

Mark Kramer and Dr. Atul Gawande discuss the untapped potential for community-based funders to transform the cost and quality of health care in the United States.

Video

Report

IMPACT: A Practical Guide to Evaluating Community Information Projects

Katelyn Mack, Ellen Martin, Hallie Preskill, John Kania

Four essential steps to collecting useful information about the effectiveness and impact of community-based information and media efforts.

Report

Taking Informed Action in Challenging Times

Wendy Horton, Valerie Bockstette, Melissa Scott, Diana Esposito

New research uncovers how community foundations are weathering the economic storm and “making lemonade” from difficult times.

Report

Multiplying Impact through Philanthropic Collaboration

Marc Pfitzer, Mike Stamp

Philanthropic collaboration is essential in order to assemble sufficient assets, expertise and influence to create social impact.

Report

Benchmarking Beyond Asset Size: New Top 100 Lists

Rebecca Graves, Melissa Scott, Diana Esposito

Benchmarking community foundations beyond asset size provides a more holistic view of how these organizations operate.

Report

Toolkit

Seeking Shared Success: Business Model Innovation Through Mergers, Affiliations, and Alliances

Rebecca Graves, Hollie Marston

Learn how alliances, affiliations, and mergers represent a path to enhanced sustainability and greater impact for community foundations.

Report

Growing Smarter: Achieving Sustainability in Emerging Community Foundations Discussion Guide

Eva Nico, Rebecca Graves, Tracy Foster, Fay Hanleybrown

This straight-forward but thought-provoking tool was created for community foundation board meetings as a part of the Growing Smarter: Achieving Sustainability in Emerging Community Foundations study. The guide features a series of questions related to growth and sustainability.

Toolkit

Developing a Master Data Sharing Agreement: Seeking Student-Level Evidence to Support a Collaborative Community Effort in Education

Neil E. Carlson, Edwin Hernández, Chaná Edmond-Verley, Gustavo Rotondaro, Eleibny Feliz-Santana, Susan Heynig

How the development of a data sharing agreement was key to providing the longitudinal, student-level data required to drive and evaluate multiple efforts to close the achievement gap in an urban neighborhood.

Article

Opportunities for Foundation Leadership

Jeff Cohen, Nathalie Jones, Leslie Crutchfield

These three case studies show how community foundations, working to create more informed and engaged communities, contributed to transforming their own institutions.

Report

2011 Reports from the Field: Place-based Foundations and the Knight Community Information Challenge

John Kania, Katelyn Mack, Ellen Martin, Marina Pol Longo, Hallie Preskill

This second annual report highlights lessons learned from the Knight Community Information Challenge.

Report

Fueling Impact: A Fresh Look at Business Model Innovation and New Revenue Sources

Rebecca Graves, Samira Rahmatullah

Difficult economic times in 2008-2010 were an important wake-up call for community foundations – a reminder that diversifying revenue sources is an essential component of a strong business model.

Report

Do More than Grow: Realizing the Potential of Community Foundation Donor-Advised Funds

Rebecca Graves, Eva Nico, Carina Wendel

What community foundations can do to realize the strategic value of Donor-Advised Funds.

Report

Strengthening Community Foundations: Redefining Opportunities

John Kania

Community foundations should examine their strategy and operations on a product-by-product basis, taking into account their mission-driven priorities, internal costs, customer preferences and the competing donor alternatives for each type of product or service they offer.

Report

Allocating Resources in a Time of Scarcity

Mark Kramer, John Kania

In tough times foundations should concentrate their giving in those areas in which their expertise, relationships, and grantees create the greatest value.

Article

Mixed Motives

Mark Kramer

Any donor's giving has multiple motivations. In this piece, Kramer argues that there are three primary motivational categories of giving and that by establishing budgets for each type and consciously considering one's motivations, donors can improve their impact.

Article

Catalytic Philanthropy Webinar Presentation

Mark Kramer

Mark Kramer, Tom Siebel (Siebel Foundation) and  Diana Aviv (Independent Sector) explore how catalytic philanthropists will be able to see measurable impact from their efforts and have the potential to change social conditions meaningfully.

Presentation

Opportunities for Leadership: Meeting Community Information Needs 2011

Katelyn Mack, Ellen Martin, with Leslie Crutchfield

This report from the Knight Community Information Challenge highlights three organizations that have taken distinct pathways beyond grant making to incorporate information needs into their work.

Report

Columbus Survey 2010 Results: Guideposts Point to Growth

Rebecca Graves, Hollie Marston

What changes in assets, gifts, and grants did community foundations experience in 2010 given the economic recovery? This report is an analysis of 2010 data gathered through the Columbus Survey.

Report

Expanding Research and Analysis for Community Foundations Presentation

FSG surveyed community foundations to better understand challenges to their sustainability, the use of cost-revenue studies, and the extent of interest in gathering more consistent  benchmarking data.

Presentation

Becoming the Community's Foundation - Insight and Change in New Haven

John Kania, Matthew Clark

This article describes the process of developing a new donor development strategy based on FSG's work with the Community Foundation of Greater New Haven.

Report

Growing Smarter: Achieving Sustainability in Emerging Community Foundations Webinar

Eva Nico

This webinar features FSG's Eva Nico and foundation leaders discussing how community foundations can grow in a sustainable way that serves their mission. 

Webinar

A Different View on Community Funds

Mark Kramer

In this letter to the editor, Kramer takes exception to an article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy--and argues that the most successful community foundations will be those that respond simultaneously to the needs of their community and their donors.

Article

Paying the Price of Innovation

Mark Kramer, John Kania

Our communities would be poorer were community foundations to forego the rich range of services they provide. On the other hand, community foundations cannot be expected to sustain these services without paying for them somehow.

Article

Measuring the Online Impact of Your Information Projects

Dana Chinn, Ellen Martin

The goal of this primer is to build a better understanding of how funders and their implementation partners are reaching and engaging audiences online through websites and social media.

Report

Making Change: Funding Across Sectors and Networks with Powerful Results

In this Philanthropy Northwest member briefing Fay Hanleybrown discusses several success stories of funders working with partners across multiple sectors to maximize their impact.

Video

Measuring Success in Donor Development

Rebecca Graves, Owen Stearns

If community foundations are to learn from each other’s success, they must find ways to create truly comparable performance data.

Report

Gaining Perspective: Lessons Learned From One Foundation’s Exploratory Decade - Executive Summary

Veronica Borgonovi, Fay Hanleybrown, Hallie Preskill, David Zapol

Ten years after launching an ambitious strategy, the Northwest Area Foundation asked FSG to identify lessons learned from a decade of community-based work.

Executive Summary

Report

Making Informed Decisions in Uncertain Times

Wendy Horton, Valerie Bockstette, Melissa Scott

How do community foundations respond to volatile financial markets and bearish economic indicators? This report identifies strategies and recommendations for responding to the economic downturn.

Report

Collective Impact for Opportunity Youth Webinar

Learn how collective impact can be applied to the unique needs of Opportunity Youth and why a new approach is needed to re-engage this population.

Webinar

Presentation

Report

Collaboration and Connection: How Foundations Partner Effectively to Address Their Community’s Information Needs

Ellen Martin, Katelyn Mack, Hallie Preskill, John Kania

This report highlights the strategies and approaches that Knight Community Information Challenge grantee foundations have used to develop and maintain productive partnerships.

Report

Infographic

Collective Impact: Embracing Emergence Webinar

This webinar explores how to address complexity in collective impact and create an intentional process that allows for effective solutions.

Webinar

Presentation

Collective Impact: Implementing Shared Measurement Presentation

Fay Hanleybrown

This presentation was created for the Collective Impact: Implementing Shared Measurement webinar which featured two panelists from successful collective impact initiatives using shared measurement systems.

Presentation

Interactive Strategy Model

The Interactive Strategy Model (ISM) helps community foundations model the impact of strategic changes on their economics. The materials, hosted on the CF Insights website, include a User Guide, Tools and Surveys.

Toolkit

Activity-Based Costing Toolkit

The Activity-Based Costing toolkit enables you to do an in depth assessment of your community foundation’s products and services and provides data to make informed decisions and improve sustainability.

Toolkit

Helping a Small Family Foundation Think Big - Rediscovering the Field of Transformational Housing

Mindy Oakley, Owen Stearns

When the Foundation first approached FSG, the Board had little common agreement about its current and future purpose, and no consensus about how to choose a focus or select grantees.

Report

Channeling Change: Making Collective Impact Work Presentation

This presentation was created for the Channeling Change: Making Collective Impact Work webinar moderated by SSIR editor Eric Nee in conversation with FSG’s John Kania, and the leaders of two organizations that have successfully used the collective impact principles.

Presentation

Learning to Lead: The Journey to Community Leadership for Emerging Community Foundations

Resources to help emerging community foundations become recognized community leaders.

Report

Video

On Board: Engaging the Full Potential of Community Foundation Directors

Resources to help emerging community foundations engage board members to boost progress.

Report

Video

Mark Kramer at the United Front 2011 Power of Collective Impact Conference

Mark Kramer's keynote presentation on Collective Impact at the United Front conference in St. Paul, MN on October 6, 2011.

Video

Charting a Course for Change: Advancing Education, Income and Health Through Collective Impact

A United Way roadmap of core community strategies to boost education, income and health, along with evidence-based implementation approaches.

Report

Growing Smarter: Achieving Sustainability in Emerging Community Foundations - Executive Summary

Eva Nico, Rebecca Graves, Tracy Foster, Fay Hanleybrown

This report focuses on solutions to a striking paradox: as community foundations grow their assets, their sustainability is often threatened.

Executive Summary

Report

On Board: Engaging the Full Potential of Community Foundation Directors

Community leaders discuss how community foundations can engage board members to boost progress.

Video

Report

Learning to Lead: The Journey to Community Leadership for Emerging Community Foundations

Community leaders discuss the report "Learning to Lead", which seeks to help emerging community foundations define their leadership opportunities.

Video

Report

Irvine Community Foundations Initiative II: Overview

Community leaders discuss the Irvine Foundation's "Community Foundations Initiative II", a six year project to help emerging community foundations define their leadership opportunities and accelerate growth.

Video

Fay Hanleybrown at the United Way of Pierce County's Community Collective Action Event

FSG's Fay Hanleybrown speaks about collective impact at the United Way of Pierce County's Community Collective Action Event on October 30, 2012.

Video

The Power of Collective Impact

Mark Kramer

This podcast, featuring Mark Kramer, focuses on the intricacies of the collective impact model and was recorded at the United Front 2011 conference.

Podcast

Encauzamiento del cambio: cómo lograr que el impacto colectivo funcione

Fay Hanleybrown, John Kania, Mark Kramer

A pesar de la dificultad para lograr que los esfuerzos de impacto colectivo levanten vuelo, los involucrados informan una renovada sensación de optimismo que surge en las primeras etapas del proceso.

Article

Do More Than Give

Leslie Crutchfield

This podcast features Leslie Crutchfield in conversation with Chicke Fitzgerald about how high-impact donors can catalyze change in the world on this Rock the World Enterprises radio blog.

Podcast