Impact Collaboratives to Watch in 2026: Organizations Setting the Standard for Measurable Community Impact

By Sheri Chaney Jones, CEO and Co Founder, SureImpact

Impact collaboratives are built on a compelling idea. Complex community challenges require coordinated action. No single organization, funder, or sector can move outcomes alone. When partners align around shared goals, communities gain the chance to create change at a scale that individual programs cannot reach.

That promise comes with real friction.

Collective impact efforts often struggle to maintain alignment once the work begins. Partners bring different priorities, timelines, and reporting obligations. Outcome definitions drift. Measurement grows sprawling. Backbone organizations lack authority or infrastructure to hold the group together. Data exists, yet rarely answers the questions communities and funders care about most.

We see this pattern often. A collaborative launches with energy and ambition, then slowly accumulates dozens of indicators, multiple dashboards, and uneven participation. Accountability softens. Learning stalls. Trust erodes when results cannot be clearly articulated.

Successful collaboratives look very different.

They start with clarity about what matters most. They commit to a small set of shared outcomes tied directly to their theory of change. They invest early in backbone infrastructure that supports coordination, communication, and shared measurement. They treat data as a collective responsibility rather than an administrative burden pushed onto partners.

Angela F. Williams, President and CEO of United Way Worldwide, reinforces this approach in her Forbes article Place Based Initiatives: A Blueprint for Scaling Community Impact. Williams emphasizes that lasting change emerges when solutions are co created with communities and supported by strong coordinating entities. Place based initiatives succeed when they align services around root causes, invest in backbone leadership, and commit to long term learning rather than short term outputs.

This perspective aligns closely with what we see across high performing collaboratives using SureImpact. When backbone organizations set clear expectations, limit measures to what truly matters, and actively support partners in using data, collective impact becomes both credible and sustainable.

That’s why we wanted to highlight these impact collaboratives to watch in 2026. Each one demonstrates what happens when shared vision, place based leadership, and disciplined measurement come together. All are SureImpact customers. More importantly, all show what other collaboratives can learn as expectations for transparency and outcomes continue to rise.

Network of Jewish Human Services Agencies and Project EM

The Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies represents one of the most sophisticated national collaboratives in the human services sector. With member agencies across the United States and beyond, the Network operates as a backbone organization that shapes shared strategy, measurement, and learning.

Mission:

Strengthening the capacity and impact of Jewish human service organizations to improve lives and build resilient communities.

Approach to Collective Impact:

The Network aligns agencies around shared outcome frameworks while allowing local organizations to deliver services grounded in community context. Project EM, the Network’s workforce and economic mobility initiative, serves as a unifying structure that connects employment focused programs across regions.

Collective Impact in Practice:

Shared measurement allows data from hundreds of agencies to roll up into network level insights. Outcomes remain consistent across sites, enabling longitudinal tracking of employment and economic mobility. Member agencies benefit from standardized reporting while retaining autonomy in service delivery.

Why Watch in 2026: Project EM combines national scale with disciplined measurement and capacity building. As workforce challenges continue nationwide, the Network’s ability to align agencies around shared goals positions it as a leader in systemwide change.

County of Summit ADM Board

The County of Summit Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Board demonstrates how public systems can function as effective backbone organizations.

Mission:

Ensuring access to high quality prevention, treatment, and recovery services so residents receive the right support at the right time.

Approach to Collective Impact:

The ADM Board convenes and funds a network of providers rather than delivering services directly. This structure enables coordinated planning, shared accountability, and strategic investment across the local behavioral health system.

Collective Impact in Practice:

Data supports oversight across contracted partners, allowing the Board to identify gaps, reduce duplication, and strengthen the continuum of care. Providers operate within a shared framework while responding to community specific needs.

Why Watch in 2026:

As communities seek more integrated behavioral health systems, the ADM Board offers a clear example of how centralized planning and shared outcomes improve access and quality at scale.

Project Rescue

Project Rescue operates a collective impact model across continents, coordinating locally led organizations serving survivors of exploitation and trafficking.

Mission:

Restoring hope and healing for women and children who have experienced sexual exploitation and slavery.

Approach to Collective Impact:

Project Rescue aligns partners around shared outcomes while honoring cultural, legal, and social context. The backbone organization supports coordination rather than directing local work.

Collective Impact in Practice:

Partners specialize in complementary services such as trauma informed care, housing, education, and economic stability. Shared goals connect this ecosystem into a coherent support system for survivors.

Why Watch in 2026:

Project Rescue shows that collective impact can operate globally without sacrificing dignity or local leadership. Their model offers important lessons for international collaboratives seeking both alignment and relevance.

AIMS Columbus

The Afterschool Initiative for Middle School Youth in Columbus (AIMS) places collective impact at the center of a citywide youth strategy.

Mission:

Ensuring middle school students have access to safe, enriching afterschool experiences that support development, belonging, and growth.

Approach to Collective Impact:

AIMS operates through a shared leadership structure called The Learning Collaborative. Partners align around youth development outcomes and use a shared data system supported by the City of Columbus.

Collective Impact in Practice:

All funded programs collect outcomes using the same platform, allowing real time insights across the collaborative. Youth voice, safety, relationships, and confidence are tracked consistently across sites.

Why Watch in 2026:

With significant public investment and strong outcome results, AIMS Columbus offers a replicable model for cities seeking coordinated, accountable youth development systems.

The Siemer Institute

The Siemer Institute stands as one of the most mature and influential impact collaboratives focused on family stability and homelessness prevention.

Mission:

Helping families remain housed, financially stable, and connected to their children’s education.

Approach to Collective Impact:

The Institute funds and supports a national network of partners operating within a shared Family Stability framework. Local organizations tailor services while adhering to common outcomes.

Collective Impact in Practice:

Standardized data flows into a centralized system used across dozens of states. Real time dashboards support learning, accountability, and replication of effective strategies.

Why Watch in 2026:

The Siemer Institute demonstrates how discipline around shared measures, accountability, and partner support leads to measurable results at national scale.

Texas Impact

Texas Impact applies collective impact principles to civic engagement by uniting faith communities around shared goals and data.

Mission:

Mobilizing faith communities to advance the common good through civic participation and public policy education.

Approach to Collective Impact:

Texas Impact serves as the backbone organization, aligning congregations around shared outreach activities and common measurement.

Collective Impact in Practice:

Each congregation collects data within a shared system that rolls up into network level dashboards. Insights identify which engagement strategies lead to higher voter participation.

Why Watch in 2026:

By pairing trusted messengers with rigorous measurement, Texas Impact opens new pathways for funding, learning, and scale in civic engagement work.

What These Organizations Have in Common

These collaboratives operate in different sectors and geographies. Their shared characteristics stand out clearly:

• They invest in backbone leadership with authority and infrastructure.

• They limit outcomes to what matters most.

• They hold partners accountable while offering support.

• They use shared data to drive learning, not just reporting.

• They remain grounded in place, people, and purpose.

In short, they avoid the trap of measuring everything and learning nothing.

Looking Ahead to 2026

Collective impact remains one of the most promising approaches for addressing complex social challenges. Its success depends on discipline, clarity, and trust.

As funders and communities demand stronger evidence of results, collaboratives that invest in shared measurement and backbone capacity will lead the way. The organizations highlighted here show that collective impact works when alignment stays intentional and data stays meaningful.

In 2026, these collaboratives offer a clear lesson. Coordination alone does not create impact. Shared outcomes, shared accountability, and shared learning do.

To learn more about what makes impact collaboratives successful, download the Siemer Institute case study.