--- title: How Healthy is Your Backbone? description: How healthy is your backbone? Check out these great resources to nourish your Collective Impact Backbone Organization image: https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/hubfs/social-suggested-images/spine_2.jpg --- [![20yrLogo-2_WhiteOrange](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/hs-fs/hubfs/Administration/Tamarack%20Logos/20yrLogo-2_WhiteOrange.png?width=200&height=47&name=20yrLogo-2_WhiteOrange.png "20yrLogo-2_WhiteOrange")](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/?hsLang=en-us) # How Healthy is Your Backbone? Posted on February 5, 2016 [By Sienna Jae Taylor](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/author/sienna-jae-taylor) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) The human backbone - the spine - is one of the most important parts of a living being. The spine's five major purposes include: movement, support, protection, coordination, and control of the entire body.  Like the human spine, a backbone organization is arguably one of the most important parts of a living, breathing Collective Impact movement.The backbone organization serves five very similar purposes:![spine_2.jpg](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/hs-fs/hubfs/social-suggested-images/spine_2.jpg?width=454&height=500&name=spine_2.jpg) - ***movement ***through the mobilization of funding - ***support ***by providing guidance of vision and strategy and building public will - ***protection ***through advocacy and policy advancement - ***coordination ***of partners and their aligned activities - ***control ***of direction by determining and implementing shared measurement practices Most importantly, **the backbone, both of the human body and of a Collective Impact initiative, add resilience and maintain a balanced centre of gravity. **The backbone organization ensures the strength and well-being of a Collective Impact initiative while maintaining focus and direction for partner organizations.  Because it is such an important part of any living entity, we must pay special attention to the health and well-being of any backbone. If the spine in a human body does not function properly, this can affect other parts of the body, creating ill-health as a whole. Similarly, if the backbone of a Collective Impact initiative does not function properly, this can have a negative impact on partner organizations, and the health and success of the initiative as a whole. **How can you create and maintain a healthy backbone?** Take a look at these great resources to nourish your backbone:** ** - The [Backbone Toolkit](https://collectiveimpactforum.org/resources/tools-backbones) from the [Collective Impact Forum](https://collectiveimpactforum.org/) to help establish backbone infrastructure  - [Five practices](https://collectiveimpactforum.org/resources/5-methods-moving-fast) to build and maintain momentum in your work - [Wishbone or Backbone: Your Choice](http://tamarackcommunity.ca/learn.html#IWF2) - A little encouragement from Tamarack's [Liz Weaver](http://events.tamarackcommunity.org/lizweaver?hsLang=en-us) - [3 Tools & Techniques](http://tamarackcci.ca/resource-library/podcasts/collective-impact-3-tools-techniques) to add to your Collective Impact toolkit Happy learning!  Topics: [Collective Impact](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/topic/collective-impact), [Sienna Jae Taylor](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/topic/sienna-jae-taylor) ![Sienna Jae Taylor](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/hubfs/Headshots/Team_Headshots/Sienna_Headshot.jpg) ### By [Sienna Jae Taylor](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/author/sienna-jae-taylor) Sienna Jae Taylor has a love for all things community and a deep passion for positive, social change. She recently worked with the Tamarack Institute as a Community Animator and previous to that was a member of the Pillar Nonprofit Network team as the 2015 ChangeTheWorld Coordinator. Sienna brings to her work experience in community engagement and animation, strength and creativity in the art of communication and a natural flair for relationship building. Sienna is motivated by the incredible world-changers and inspiring projects that she encounters everyday and believes that with a little community, celebration and passion, anything is possible. ## Related Posts [![](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/hubfs/Community-driven-pathways-blog-post-staff-office-widescreen.png)](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/five-community-driven-pathways-for-systems-change?hsLang=en-us) #### [Five Community-Driven Pathways for Systems Change](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/five-community-driven-pathways-for-systems-change?hsLang=en-us) [![](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/hubfs/MicrosoftTeams-image%20%2815%29.png)](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/expanding-collective-impact-across-the-globe?hsLang=en-us) #### [Expanding Collective Impact Across the Globe](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/expanding-collective-impact-across-the-globe?hsLang=en-us) [![](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/hubfs/collective%20impact%20toolkit%20featured%20image%20v2.png)](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/introducing-the-collective-impact-toolkit?hsLang=en-us) #### [Introducing the Collective Impact Toolkit](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/introducing-the-collective-impact-toolkit?hsLang=en-us) [![BACK TO THE LATEST](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/316071/e6ffa9bb-4467-4833-8ecc-eb340b11d829.png)](http://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/316071/e6ffa9bb-4467-4833-8ecc-eb340b11d829) [![20yrLogo-2_WhiteOrange](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/hs-fs/hubfs/Administration/Tamarack%20Logos/20yrLogo-2_WhiteOrange.png?width=3401&name=20yrLogo-2_WhiteOrange.png "20yrLogo-2_WhiteOrange")](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/?hsLang=en-us) ### Tamarack [Home](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/?hsLang=en-us) [Latest](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest) [Events](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/eventlisting?hsLang=en-us) [Donate](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/donate?hsLang=en-us) [About](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/whoweare?hsLang=en-us) ### Follow Us [** ** ](https://www.facebook.com/TamarackInstitute) [** ** ](https://twitter.com/Tamarack_Inst) [** ** ](https://www.linkedin.com/company/tamarack-institute-for-community-engagement)   In the spirit of respect, reciprocity, and truth we honour and acknowledge that our work occurs across Turtle Island (North America), which has been home since time immemorial to the ancestors of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Peoples. ### Subscribe Be in the know. 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