Scaling Through Consortiums: Five Lessons We’ve Learned About Growing Impact Collectively

For societal enterprises, NGOs and different impact-focused organisations, consortiums are seldom nan easy way to scale. They thin to beryllium slower, much analyzable and harder to negociate than moving pinch a azygous organisation. But consortiums tin besides nutrient solutions that are broader successful perspective, stronger successful legitimacy and much resilient successful practice.

Take nan KUWAZA kid protection consortium successful Zanzibar, involving Pathfinder International, ActionAid and C-Sema. Government stakeholders were much consenting to backmost nan exemplary precisely because it came from a agreed beforehand of NGOs, not from 1 organisation advancing its ain agenda. That corporate credibility helped nan inaugural summation traction and grow its reach.

Over nan past fewer years, Spring Impact has supported nan KUWAZA inaugural and different consortiums tackling issues ranging from kid protection to women’s economical empowerment, successful geographies that see Bulgaria, Egypt and Zanzibar. Each brought different histories, structures and ambitions, but together they item important lessons astir what makes scaling done consortiums distinct, and really to make this benignant of collaborative effort work.

Lesson 1: Letting spell of organisational ego is non-negotiable 

Scaling requires focusing connected nan solution, not nan organisation. For consortiums, this intends stepping extracurricular of organization personality and centering nan corporate mission. 

One effective measurement to build this mindset is to thief partners acquisition nan solution from each other’s perspective. In nan KUWAZA kid protection consortium, for example, members initially struggled to fto spell of “their” portion of nan solution. We asked them to ideate delivering nan shared exemplary successful caller communities, but nether different partner’s guidelines. Walking done nan implications — including time, costs, and measurement and information — helped everyone spot that excessively overmuch rigidity would forestall partners from adapting nan exemplary to nan communities they were moving in, undermining nan very intent of nan consortium. This workout shifted nan attraction from “my portion of nan model” to “our shared solution.”

Letting spell of organisational ego is besides easier erstwhile nan solution is not tied to 1 organisation’s brand. One illustration is nan SureStart Central and Eastern Europe Initiative, a family strengthening consortium successful Bulgaria involving Tulip Foundation, Center Maria, Future for Children and Club of nan NGOs Targovishte. The consortium framed its activity arsenic scaling SureStart Centres, an existing conception developed by nan UK government, alternatively than designed by immoderate azygous partner. This neutral positioning allowed partners to consciousness shared ownership, reducing ego and building trust.

Lesson 2: Alignment takes longer — but it’s worthy nan wait 

Achieving alignment connected strategy is difficult capable wrong a azygous organisation. In a consortium, it is exponentially harder, since each partner brings its ain mission, priorities and perspective.

When it comes to processing a standard strategy, alignment must screen 3 things: nan circumstantial portion of nan problem being addressed, nan “core” of nan solution that is to beryllium scaled, and nan objectives for scale. One consortium we worked pinch simply could not work together connected standard objectives: One personnel wanted to attraction heavy connected gross generation, while nan others feared this would make it harder to service those astir successful need. Despite attempts to progress, these unresolved differences kept resurfacing and yet rendered nan consortium unviable.

A consortium’s goals and strategy must align pinch each organisation’s broader strategy and budget, and this alignment must not beryllium treated arsenic a broadside project. This intends buy-in needs to hap astatine a broader organisational level, not conscionable among nan unit progressive successful nan consortium. 

This process takes clip and space, and each determination requires aggregate voices, which tin consciousness frustrating. But nan slower gait is nan value of building beardown foundations. Once alignment is achieved, nan standard strategy tends to beryllium much robust, reliable and fresh for systemic impact. And strong consortiums often revisit alignment arsenic strategies, contexts and partners evolve.

Lesson 3: Power dynamics must beryllium named and managed

Power imbalances beryllium successful each consortium. They tin stem from backing flows, brand/IP ownership, size aliases influence. If near unspoken, they tin undermine spot and stall progress.

In 1 consortium we worked with, a funder-member insisted each partners were “equal” and had adjacent input into strategical decisions, yet this did not lucifer really nan business was operating. The implementer felt incapable to disagree; nan funder, meanwhile, distrusted nan feedback they received. The deficiency of transparency eroded spot and progress.

Power dynamics will ever exist, but they must beryllium openly acknowledged and actively managed. This is peculiarly important for funders to see erstwhile supporting consortiums, arsenic backing flows play a cardinal domiciled successful enabling (or undermining) consortium dynamics. And erstwhile they’re straight progressive arsenic consortium members, funders request to beryllium clear astir their expectations, stakes and decision-making processes.

Lesson 4: Trust and building must spell manus successful hand 

Consortiums often thrive connected individual spot and camaraderie. While this makes collaboration possible, it tin besides make general governance and archiving consciousness secondary. Yet some are basal if scaling is to beryllium sustainable.

Take nan SureStart Centre consortium: Members person relied heavy connected beardown individual relationships, and this spot has been a large portion of their occurrence to date. We worked pinch them to build connected that beardown foundation, by systemising learning, clarifying cardinal questions, and demarcating roles and responsibilities. These structures strengthened their expertise to replicate and accommodate nan model, without undermining nan tone of collaboration that made nan business activity successful nan first place.

The request for building becomes astir evident erstwhile consortiums inevitably alteration complete time. Funders displacement priorities, organisations germinate and leaders move on. In 1 consortium we supported, nan abrupt departure of a consortium personnel near nan others scrambling. Without agreed-upon exit scenarios aliases modulation plans, scaling momentum collapsed.

The cardinal is uncovering nan saccharine spot: capable building to alteration replication and accountability, while preserving nan relational spot that makes collaboration possible.

Lesson 5: Play to strengths, debar dependency 

Clarity astir roles and responsibilities is captious successful immoderate consortium — not conscionable for delivering nan solution, but besides for enabling functions specified arsenic research, advocacy, fundraising and coordination. Without this clarity, advancement stalls.

Roles should align pinch each partner’s genuine strengths, pinch transparency astir capabilities. For example, nan KUWAZA consortium leveraged Pathfinder’s heavy knowing of moving pinch government, C-Sema’s frontline expertise successful managing a kid helpline and coordinating consequence efforts, and Action Aid’s acquisition successful organization engagement, moving successful schools and pinch parents.

But partners must besides defender against over-relying connected others to screen their weaknesses. In 1 consortium we supported, a member’s dependence connected different for strategy and backing near it unprepared erstwhile that partner exited — exposing really dependency tin undermine resilience.

It’s besides important to retrieve that a consortium is not a homogenous entity. Each consortium personnel has its ain needs, capacities and challenges. Supporting standard intends engaging pinch members individually, not only done a lead partner, to guarantee that nary azygous sound dominates and each members tin lend effectively.

Conclusion

Scaling impactful solutions is challenging moreover for a single, well-resourced organisation. When aggregate organisations subordinate forces successful a consortium, nan challenges multiply — but truthful does nan imaginable for deeper, much systemic impact.

To unlock this potential, scaling done consortiums requires:

• More clip upfront to align connected nan problem, nan “core” model, objectives and roles.
• More humility from members consenting to fto spell of power and ego.
• More intentional facilitation to equilibrium power, negociate dynamics and create neutral spaces.
• A dual attraction connected spot and systemisation, some of which are basal for sustainability.

For funders, societal enterprises, intermediaries and NGOs, nan connection is clear: Scaling done consortiums is not simply astir doing “more of nan same” activity they’re already doing. It demands different skills, expectations and mindsets — but erstwhile embraced, it offers a powerful pathway to effect astatine scale.

Emma Colenbrander is Managing Director astatine Spring Impact.

Photo credit: NanoStockk