Are You Sure You Should Be Launching Another Partnership?
This blog post originally appeared on the Stanford Social Innovation Review website on July 12, 2016.
The number of multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) in the social impact space has increased dramatically over the past few decades, beginning in the 70s with the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research, followed by a considerable uptick in the 90s. Known by many names—including coalitions, public-private partnerships, and alliances—these types of organizations naturally appeal to those seeking transformative change. They offer a powerful model to solve increasingly complex global development problems, particularly because they bring together stakeholders across sectors, influence ecosystems, and create impact at meaningful scale.
Since our founding, our team at the Global Development Incubator has worked to build and advise MSIs, including the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs, the Better Than Cash Alliance, and the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor.
Our recent study, “More than the Sum of Its Parts: Making MSIs Work,” attempts to distill MSI launch best practices from research and interviews with more than 30 early MSI funders and implementers. Our initial plan was to provide a how-to guide for practitioners and funders interested in the model, but as we discussed our findings with the report’s advisory committee comprised of donor representatives, we quickly realized that we were getting ahead of ourselves. To truly build a discipline around developing MSIs, we needed to answer one critical question before digging into the “how”: Should you launch one in the first place?