Have you ever come across a challenge and thought of your own way to solve it to achieve a positive outcome? Have you ever considered the fact that maybe your fellow neighbors or communities may also share the same similar goals or outcomes? Without even realizing, many of us have similar goals or outcomes we would like to achieve, however, despite people having similar goals and wanting the same results, there is a lack of collectivism that leads to plans failing. At Clear Impact we focus on achieving a “Collective Impact” with Result-Based Accountability.

In a recent issue of the Stanford Social Innovator, John Kania and Mark Kramer explain the concept of “Collective Impact” and how it can help groups of people come together towards a common outcome. The five conditions or steps to implement a collective impact and collective success are found here:

  • A Common Agenda: The use of population results and indicators provided a clear, practical and measurable way of articulating a common agenda for a community.
  • Shared Measurement System: Defining performance measures for each community partner that clearly align with the Common Agenda (Population results and indicators) provides the information needed to make decisions and revise strategies going forward.
  • Mutually Reinforcing Activities: Collecting Data is only half the battle. Transparency in your planning can help you to use data to make decisions and guide your strategies to improve.
  • Continuous Communications: Communication , not just between partners but also with funders and the public, is a key component to any successful Collective Impact initiative.
  • Backbone Support Organization: A backbone organization provides the supporting infrastructure for a Collective Impact effort and is a facilitator of a highly structured data-driven decision making process.

So, what is Result-Based Accountability? Result-Based Accountability (RBA) is a disciplined way of thinking and acting that helps improve social problems. RBA uses a data-driven decision making process that helps communities and organizations overcome their problems and find solutions to solving those problems. At Clear Impact, our goal is to help communities and organizations better achieve their goals by using our software to achieve those goals easier. If you would like to know more about Result-Based Accountability you can find it here. If you would like to know more about Achieving a Collective Impact it can be found here.

 

About the Author:

 

Jaqueline Blanco is a rising senior Public Policy student at the University of Maryland and a Content Marketing Intern with Clear Impact. She enjoys writing and learning more about ways to help solve or address public issues in her community while hoping to one day work in a position where she can make a positive impact.