Turn a coalition of partners into measurable community change.
Collective Impact solves complex social problems by aligning many organizations around a shared goal. Clear Impact and Results-Based Accountability operationalize all five conditions — so good intentions become coordinated, measurable action.
Trusted by backbone organizations and cross-sector coalitions nationwide.
Good intentions don't create change — alignment does. Collective Impact works when partners share a common agenda, a shared measurement system, and the backbone to hold it together.
Why well-intentioned coalitions stall
Cross-sector partnerships bring energy and goodwill — but too often that isn't enough to move the needle. Three failure patterns show up again and again.
A general idea, not a common agenda
Partners rally around a broad vision but never agree on measurable objectives — so no one can say whether the coalition is actually working.
Busy activity, no shared measures
Everyone is doing good work, but without a shared measurement system, activities run in parallel rather than reinforcing one another toward a common result.
Momentum — and attendance — fade
Without continuous communication and visible progress, partners lose confidence that the work is going anywhere, and meeting attendance falls.
The vehicle is Results-Based Accountability. Developed by Mark Friedman, RBA gives a coalition the shared language and discipline to turn all five conditions from theory into practice.
The five conditions — operationalized
Collective Impact names five conditions for success. Clear Impact and RBA give a backbone organization the tools to actually deliver each one.
A Common Agenda
Define population Results and Indicators that articulate measurable community goals every partner can rally around — not just a general idea.
Shared Measurement System
Scorecard sets performance measures for each partner that clearly align to the common agenda — one shared system instead of scattered reports.
Mutually Reinforcing Activities
Transparent, data-informed planning lets partners see the whole picture and coordinate strategies that reinforce — rather than duplicate — each other.
Continuous Communication
Turn the Curve conversations and shared scorecards keep partners talking about the data and the story behind it — the engine of a durable coalition.
Backbone Support Organization
Clear Impact gives the backbone the supporting infrastructure to coordinate partners, manage measurement, and communicate progress at scale.
The through-line: RBA
One framework connects all five — separating the community result you share from each partner's contribution, and turning both into action.
The backbone's operating system
Clear Impact translates the five conditions into daily practice — three products that work as one, so the backbone can collect, align, and communicate across every partner.
Compyle
Give each partner a shared way to collect participant, survey, and referral data — so the coalition's shared measurement system is fed by consistent, reliable inputs.
Scorecard
Organize the common agenda's results and indicators, align each partner's performance measures to it, and run Turn the Curve planning — the coalition's single source of truth.
Showcase
Publish accessible dashboards that keep partners, funders, and the community aligned around shared progress — sustaining the momentum a coalition lives on.
Compyle collects from every partner · Scorecard aligns it to the common agenda · Showcase communicates progress — all framed by Results-Based Accountability.
The shared result — and each partner's part in it
RBA's core distinction is exactly what a coalition needs: it separates the community-level result everyone shares from the performance each partner can actually control.
The common agenda
The population result the coalition exists to move — children reading on grade level, youth connected to opportunity — which no single partner achieves alone.
Each partner's contribution
Each partner's own performance, with measures aligned to the common agenda — so individual contributions add up to a collective result.
Every partner answers three questions
How much did we do?
How well did we do it?
Is anyone better off?
"Turn the Curve" — the coalition's shared conversation
Partners read the trend together, tell the story behind it, and decide what to do next — the routine that keeps a coalition aligned and moving.
What a well-run backbone makes possible
Backbone organizations use Clear Impact to align their partners, keep them engaged, and prove the coalition is working.
Give partners a common scoreboard
Align every partner's measures to one common agenda, so the whole coalition can see how its separate efforts add up to community results.
Make meetings about the data
Turn the Curve conversations tell the story behind the curve — turning partnership meetings from status updates into decisions that move outcomes.
Sustain momentum & funding
Visible, transparent progress keeps partners engaged and gives funders the confidence to keep investing in the collective effort.
The infrastructure that holds it all together
A backbone organization is what separates a coalition that meets from a coalition that moves the needle. Clear Impact gives it the operating system to coordinate, measure, and communicate across every partner.
- Nonprofits & providers align their work to a shared community result.
- Government & schools connect their data and strategies to the common agenda.
- Funders see the collective progress their investment makes possible.
- The community sees transparent, credible evidence of shared progress.
Partners keep their own missions, but a shared agenda and measurement system let the backbone move them together.
Establish the five conditions, step by step
A staged path that builds each condition of Collective Impact into a working system — adapted to your coalition's capacity and timeline.
Identify & Train
Build the backbone team's skills across RBA, Scorecard, and Compyle.
Common Agenda
Define the population results and indicators every partner shares.
Shared Measurement
Set aligned performance measures for each partner; population vs. program.
Configure
Build the shared Scorecard, Compyle forms, and partner reporting.
Engage Partners
Onboard partners and coordinate mutually reinforcing activities.
Communicate
Establish continuous communication and regular Turn the Curve meetings.
Scale
Expand partners and measures; publish shared public dashboards.
Improve
Run Turn the Curve reviews to sustain momentum, results, and funding.
Turn your coalition into collective impact
Let's talk about your common agenda, your partners, and a shared measurement system that turns cross-sector goodwill into measurable community change.
Join the Clear Impact Movement: Subscribe to our monthly newsletter