Governance Structures and Processes in Interorganizational Collaboratives: The Critical Role of Power and Equity

ABSTRACT

Interorganizational collaboratives among human service nonprofit organizations are potential hubs for innovation and progress. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of governance in an interorganizational collaborative, the “Sport for Good Cities” initiative, which was intentionally designed to achieve collective impact. Drawing on interviews with 30 stakeholders, the findings provide important theoretical and practical insights for governance in interorganizational collaboratives in terms of the central role and challenges related to power and decision-making, backbone support, and equity and engagement. For example, the findings highlight the need to decide how collaboratives will be governed during the formative stages of interorganizational endeavors, along with governance structures and processes that deconstruct systemic and structural inequities.

practice pointe

- Power relations can be amplified and complicated by a diverse set of member organizations in a nonprofitspecific interorganizational collaborative, especially when funded by a backbone organization.

- Nonprofitspecific interorganizational collaboratives may require more intentionality, clarity, and reflexivity on power and decision making.

- Relationships, trust, and respect may be critical to the longevity and success of nonprofitspecific interorganizational collaboratives, especially at the start.

- Nonprofitspecific interorganizational collaboratives may consider cultivating a learning culture through continuous, bidirectional communication and feedback loops.

- Governance structures and processes of nonprofitspecific interorganizational collaboratives can deconstruct systemic and structural inequities through explicit, critical, and iterative reflection and action.

KEYWORDS:

• Collective impact
• human service organizations
• multi-organizational
• nonprofit
• partnerships

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Notes

1 Note: For the purposes of clarity, all leadership groups will be referred to as Leadership Councils (even if they are assigned a different name locally, e.g., Steering Committee) and all leadership subgroups (aside from working groups) will be referred to as committees (even if they are assigned a different name locally; e.g., task force).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation USA .