An Evaluation of the Ford Foundation's Collaborations that Count Initiative

In 1998,the Governance and Civil Society Unit of the Ford Foundation embarked on a six-year initiative called Collaborations That Count: Working for Democracy in Devolutionary Times, designed to encourage collaboration between civil society groups working on public policy issues. Collaborations that Count (CtC) was a response to the devolution of federal funds and decisionmaking authority to the state and local level.

This report is the culmination of a two-year participatory evaluation process conducted by the Applied Research Center (ARC). It provides an account of the CtC experience, identifies areas in which the 11 statewide collaborations succeeded, and draws attention to ways in which support to collaboration might be more effectively provided in the future.

Table of Contents

Chapter One
Origins of the Collaborations that Count (CtC) Initiative

Chapter Two
Assesing the Impact of Collaborations that Count

Chapter Three
Political Vision and Prior Relationships: Washington & Mississippi
Washington State Living Wage Movement (LWM)
Mississippi Education Working Group (MEWG)

Chapter Four
Addressing Power Dynamics: Tennessee, Kentucky, & North Carolina
Tennessee Partnership on Organizing and Public Policy (TPOPP)
The Kentucky Economic Justice Alliance (KEJA)
The North Carolina Alliance for Economic Justice (NCAEJ)

Chapter Five
Internal Processes and External Outcomes: South Carolina & Alabama
South Carolina Policy and Organizing Project (SCPOP)
Alabama Organizing Project (AOP)

Chapter Six
Campaign Strategy and Leadership: Idaho & Oregon
Idaho Collaborative
Oregon Campaign for Economic Justice (OCEJ)

Chapter Seven
Stages of Collaborative Development: Texas & Nevada
ProTex:The Network for a Progressive Texas
The Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN)

Chapter Eight
Ancillary Grantees: Augmenting Infrastructure and Expertise
Regional Intermediaries
Northwest Federation of Community Organizations (NWFCO)
Southern Partners Fund (SPF)
Western States Center
Technical Assistance
Alliance for Justice
Progressive Technology Project (PTP)
National Policy Organizations
Center for Policy Alternatives (CPA)
Economic Policy Institute (EPI)
Media Innovation
Creative Communications (CC)

Chapter Nine
Observations, Lessons, and Recommendation
Six Variables Influencing Collaborative Success: Key Lessons
Interaction with Funders,Ancillary Organizations,and Evaluators
Key Recommendations

Related Documents:

Power, Participation & State-Based Politics Full Report and Power, Participation & State-Based Politics Executive Summary.  To download these documents in PDF format, complete the form on this page.