Whether you’re working on a local collective impact initiative or a national public-private partnership; whether you’re a practitioner or a researcher; whether you’re looking for basics or a detailed look at a particular topic, our Resource Library can help you find the information and tools you need for your cross-sector thinking and practice. The Library — which includes resources from research organizations, advisory groups, training organizations, academic centers and journals, and other sources — spans issue areas, sectors, and partnership types.
Learn More
There are a number of academic courses, programs, and certificates offered in the United States in which cross-sector collaboration is a major theme. We hope this list will be useful for educators who are interested in how this topic is being taught at universities across the country…
In this paper, Living Cities offers “a strategic framework for cross-sector partnerships including describing and defining the traits that make up a strong foundation, factors that influence success, and behaviors of high-impact efforts. In addition to the theory, the paper steeps these ideas in four…
This landmark SSIR article introduced the concept of collective impact and its five conditions of collective success. “Collaboration is nothing new. The social sector is filled with examples of partnerships, networks, and other types of joint efforts. But collective impact initiatives are distinctly different. Unlike…
✴︎ Available only with purchase from publisher “Theoretical and empirical work on collaboration has proliferated in the last decade. The authors’ 2006 article on designing and implementing cross-sector collaborations was a part of, and helped stimulate, this growth. This article reviews the authors’ and others’…
“This report focuses specifically on a cross-sector collaborative effort to significantly reduce traffic congestion in the Twin Cities metropolitan area of Minnesota. The organizers of the program concluded that a collaborative, multi-modal approach was crucial to making real headway on a longstanding, costly, nearly intractable…
“This paper reports on the opportunities and challenges of creating partnerships between foundations and government agencies in promoting housing as a platform. Through discussions with philanthropists, the authors examine evidence for ‘housing as a platform’ and assess the challenges that impede public-private partnerships. They find…
“Organizations representing the nonprofit, public, and private sectors often collaborate to enhance capacities while addressing complex, interconnected problems. Using the framework of Bryson, Crosby, and Stone, processes used to support successful collaboration are explored empirically through a multiple sector arrangement involving 15 nonprofit, public, and…
✴︎ Available only with purchase from publisher “The active role of funders in organizational restructuring and consolidation is becoming a more common area of study, because more funders — private and government funders alike — are moving in the direction of encouraging funded agencies to…
✴︎ Available only with purchase from publisher “The non-profit sector is evolving rapidly as organizations expand their focus on efficiency, sustainability, and accountability. Public agencies are changing as well, embracing collaborative public management and fostering stewardship-based contracting approaches. But how have all these developments influenced…
“Taproot is a non-profit that engages millions of business professionals in pro bono services both through its award-winning programs and by partnering with companies to develop their pro bono programs. In this audio interview, founder Aaron Hurst speaks with Stanford Center for Social Innovation correspondent…
✴︎ Available only with purchase from publisher In this contribution to SSIR, Saphira M. Baker — former Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Human Services for the City of Richmond, Virginia — asks the question, “What is it that makes collaborative community change efforts involving nonprofits…
“As pressures on faith-based and community organizations increase and the issues we face become more complex, the idea of partnerships can hold much promise. … To make real the promise of partnerships, however, we must be prepared to build, sustain, and evaluate them in a…
“This paper maps the spectrum of activities that, taken together, endeavor to create well nourished, food secure communities. Until recently, many of these activities have taken place in relative isolation of one another; and funders have tended to line up their support more narrowly behind…
✴︎ Available only with purchase from publisher “[The authors] provide a grounded model for analysing formation in cross sector social partnerships to understand why business and nonprofit organizations increasingly partner to address social issues. [Their] model introduces organizational characteristics, organizational motives and history of partner…
✴︎ Available only with purchase from publisher “This article presents a comparative analysis of the evolution of two community mental health networks that both have similar contracts from the State of Arizona. One of the networks is governed by a for-profit firm that buys needed…