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.
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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 report is “intended only to provide a preliminary exploration of the rationale and potential for foundation-corporation collaborations, together with a framework for constructing them, and a few abbreviated case studies that suggest their power.” The authors write that their objective is “to help frame…
✴︎ Available only with purchase from publisher “Firms and industries increasingly subscribe to voluntary codes of conduct. These self-regulatory governance systems can be effective in establishing a more sustainable and inclusive global economy. However, these codes can also be largely symbolic, reactive measures to quell public…
“The corporate world is oftentimes approached for favors, but very few evolve into mutually beneficial alliances between non-profits and private-sector companies. As described in this audio lecture, First Book’s Kyle Zimmer and Disney executive Kathy Franklin explain what it takes to build a successful long-term…
The author of this SSIR piece urges readers to be more realistic about partnering’s potential and its risks. “There is a tendency in the philanthropic world to assume that collaboration has intrinsic value and effectiveness, and to expect partnership to serve as a solution, often…
✴︎ Available only with purchase from publisher “As many non-profits have grown larger, they are adopting concepts and tools from the private sector to improve their own operations and effectiveness. For such growth and adaptation to continue, it is important to understand how knowledge is…
✴︎ Available only with purchase from publisher “In 2003, industrial manufacturer Eaton, the NGO Environmental Defense, and shipping giant Federal Express formed a partnership to develop a hybrid electric delivery truck. While Environmental Defense had experience setting up successful partnerships with corporations, this was the…
✴︎ Available only with purchase from publisher “Companies are increasingly seeing corporate social responsibility as a key to long-term success and are collaborating with non-profit organizations in various ways to establish themselves as good corporate citizens. [This case] delves into a promising form of company/non-profit…
✴︎ Available only with purchase from publisher “In November 2003, Patrick McCrory became the first Mayor of Charlotte to be elected for a fifth term. Throughout his eight years in office, McCrory had developed and championed the ‘Mayor’s Mentoring Alliance,’ a cross-sector initiative aimed at…
“This article examines the behavioral dynamics at the interface between organizations in strategic partnerships called cause-based partnerships (CBPs). These are partnerships between a corporation and one or more nonprofit organizations that address social metaproblems such as environmental sustainability or social-justice challenges. Various a priori differences…
✴︎ Available only with purchase from publisher “Corporate environmental responsibility is becoming an increasingly important strategic concern for companies, their stakeholders, and non-profit organizations (NPOs). Although many corporations now provide financial support, equipment, or personnel to assist environmental interest groups, the relationship between companies and…