DOI
10.9707/1944-5660.1157
Key Points
· Foundations have a long tradition of convening and funding collaborative groups with the hope that this will lead to large-scale impact.
· Although funder-driven collaboration sometimes leads to breakthrough solutions, foundations have also pushed the participating organizations into artificial, awkward, and unsustainable efforts.
· This article argues that funders should support naturally emerging networks and should tailor their support to match the network’s stage of development.
· A five-stage developmental model is introduced and illustrated through a case study of the Central Appalachian Network (CAN).
· Over CAN’s 20-year history, a succession of regional and national foundations have played crucial roles in building the network and facilitating the development of a collective-impact strategy.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Easterling, D. (2013). Getting to Collective Impact: How Funders Can Contribute Over the Life Course of the Work. The Foundation Review, 5(2). https://doi.org/10.9707/1944-5660.1157
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