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Researchers Alison Powell, Susan Wolf Ditkoff, and Fay Twersky have partaken in a collaboration literature review, which identified more than 125 major articles and reports by practitioners and academics.
The review shows knowledge gaps, particularly around the foundational questions of whether funders should pursue collaborative action, and what distinguishes failure from success.
To address these gaps, the researchers conducted a study of 10 relatively successful collaboratives, as well as a set of 15 that had faltered or failed, including collaboratives in which donors align funding against an agreed set of criteria, and excluded those whose core focus is learning together while pursuing individual funding goals.
The key finding of the research is under collaboratives can drive greater results when well executed compared to funders who generally believe they could achieve by working alone.
The research suggests the value stronger models can achieve, and provides guidance where collaboratives can better focus their grantmaking strategies and engage their grantees to achieve more impact.
The researchers dig deep into examining core areas that include organization funders, field builders, goal aligners, finding the right investment thesis, and gathering fundamental questions for funder collaboratives to ask themselves.
Selected Grant News Headlines
A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing has gained popularity in recent years as clients seek to align their investments with their values and promote positive change in the...more
Foundation: Marguerite Casey Foundation, Marguerite Casey Foundation, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, Skoll Foundation, Target Foundation, Ford Foundation, Philadelphia Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation
"The US creative economy was most recently valued at over $1 trillion by the National Endowment for the Arts," per a press release, "even before considering film, fashion, video games, beauty, food,...more
The University of Utah's Wilkes Center for Climate Science and Policy has narrowed its list of finalists for its $500,000 Climate Launch Prize to seven. The goal of the prize, which is one of the...more
"Having a purposeful job actually does transform someone's life," says Edwin Walsh, who runs a social enterprise in Australia called Assembled Threads. "You actually are moving someone from...more
Canada is putting its money where its mouth is, with a $2.5 million investment in five projects in India meant to help the country's poor, the Toronto Star reports. "Many of these novel projects...more
"These figures underscore the vital role that creativity and culture play not only in enriching community life but also in driving economic development." So says the chair of Pennsylvania's...more
Foundation: Community Foundation of Southern Indiana
"When you see the kids interacting and them building communitythat's what it is," says Camp Quality Kentuckiana executive director Eddie Bobbitt. "It's bigger than fishing and pie fights." The...more
The Whitfield Education Foundation is holding its annual golf tournament Monday in Dalton, Ga., and it's using the event to raise money for teacher grants. The foundation's executive director,...more
Foundation: Community Giving Foundation
"There's one simple statement that we see a lotthat is 'be kind,'" said Kara Seesholtz, CEO of the Community Giving Foundation, after students from 15 school districts in central Pennsylvania handed...more
The Alzheimer's Association's Forget-Me-Not program has a new toy in its arsenal: fidget blankets. The Madison Hospital in Alabama has received a $2,500 grant from the Huntsville Hospital...more
Social Entrepreneurship
Spotlight
Building a Million Dollar Company Where Everyone Counts
Ganesh Natarajan is the Founder and Chairman of 5FWorld, a new platform for funding and developing start-ups, social enterprises and the skills eco-system in India. In the past two decades, he has built two of India’s high-growth software services companies – Aptech and Zensar – almost from scratch to global success.
