What is Collective Impact?
According to the consulting firm FSG, there has been resounding agreement on the basic premise of the ideas behind collective impact: that no organization acting alone can solve large-scale issues. Collective impact is more than just collaboration. It is a rigorous approach with five conditions that, together, are a lever for deep and lasting social change. FSG created a series of three short videos, which describe the idea of collective impact and show two examples of collective impact in action: The Elizabeth River Project, and The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN).
Discussion of collective impact has been featured in The New York Times, shared at the White House, and declared a top philanthropy buzzword by Lucy Bernholz. The original article about collective impact and its follow-up article, “Channeling Change: Making Collective Impact Work," are among the “most read” on Stanford Social Innovation Review's website.