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Introducing the Collective Impact Toolkit

Written by Liz Weaver | February 3, 2022

We’re excited to publicly launch our Collective Impact Toolkit resource to assist other change-makers and organizations on their own Collective Impact journey. We want to equip you with the practical tools needed to navigate the various pre-conditions, conditions, and phases of a long-term Collective Impact effort.

The Collective Impact framework was launched in 2011 by John Kania and Mark Kramer of FSG Consulting. Their Stanford Social Innovation Review article of the same name  distilled some of the key ingredients of successful community efforts to move “from fragmented action and results” to “collective action and deep and durable impact.” The approach was built on five conditions: common agenda, shared measurement, mutually reinforcing activities, continuous communication, and backbone support.

Since 2011, Collective Impact’s popularity has exploded and is now employed across the globe by coalitions and collaboratives working to impact poverty, homelessness, climate change, the justice system, student achievement and many more issues and opportunities.

At the Tamarack Institute, we recognize the importance of long-term commitment in a Collective Impact initiative. In 2016, Tamarack published Collective Impact 3.0 which built on the original framework and deepened our understanding of how to get the most out of intentional, collective action.

We’re excited to publicly launch our Collective Impact Toolkit resource to assist other change-makers and organizations on their own Collective Impact journey. We want to equip you with the practical tools needed to navigate the various pre-conditions, conditions, and phases of a long-term Collective Impact effort. The tools and resources contained within are pulled from over twenty years of community change work, informed in partnership with local changemakers from communities across the globe.

Collective Impact works but requires commitment, content and context expertise, and time. We hope that this toolkit provides you with enough resources to get started on your Collective Impact journey, and enough knowledge and wisdom to help you ask the right questions of the right people along the way.

Our doors are always open — we welcome any feedback, questions, or encouragement as you embark on your Collective Impact journey. 



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