CFC to launch late to allow adjustments to program changes

• Date: 01 October 2017
• Published date: 01 October 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nba.30368

6

OCTOBER 2017NONPROFIT BUSINESS ADVISOR

© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company • All rights reserved

DOI: 10.1002/nba

(See CFC on page 8)

Federal News

CFC to launch late to allow adjustments

to program changes

The 2017 Combined Federal Campaign will run

from Oct. 2 through Jan. 12, 2018, according to Kath-

leen McGettigan, acting director of the U.S. Ofce

of Personnel Management, which administers the

CFC. That start date is about a month later than in

previous years, potentially limiting donations made

through the program, which have declined every year

since the CFC’s high-water mark in 2009.

In an agency memo, McGettigan said the later

start date was recommended by the CFC-50 Com-

mission in its report that it issued in July 2012. It will

allow local campaign zones time to organize their

engagement strategies in order to incorporate some

other key changes to the program taking place this

year. Those include:

New research from the Bridgespan Group high-

lights the key factors for success that underlie 15

of the greatest social impact stories from the 20th

century—from child passenger safety to global

CPR—and presents a framework for today’s grant-

makers and nonprots aspiring to advance similar

large-scale change.

According to the report, which was initially

published in Harvard Business Review, nearly 90

percent of these large-scale efforts took more than

20 years to see results; 80 percent involved changing

government funding ows, policies or actions; nearly

75 percent involved active coordination among

key actors in the government and philanthropic

communities; and two-thirds featured one or more

philanthropic investments of $10 million or more—

commonly referred to today as “big bets.”

While the social change efforts under discussion

were highly complex, with countless factors inu-

encing the results, the Bridgespan Group homed

in on ve common elements that might help other

efforts to increase their odds of success. These are:

1. Building a shared understanding of the prob-

lem and its ecosystem. While philanthropi-

cally funded research often helped to explain

the full impact of the problem, ongoing

monitoring and problem redenition were

key, and often required collaboration among

philanthropists, government agencies and

other stakeholders.

2. Setting “winnable milestones” and honing a

compelling message. Leaders of these initia-

tives identied and rallied around a concrete

and emotionally compelling objective that

could be measured and acted upon.

3. Designing approaches that will work at mas-

sive scale. These initiatives envisioned impact

at massive scale from their early days. Often

requiring continued iteration and innovation,

“scalability” remained a key design param-

eter, co-equal to impact, the group said.

4. Driving (rather than assuming) demand. These

initiatives invested to catalyze demand for

the new product, service or practice. Phi-

lanthropists and others funded research on

what beneciaries really wanted and needed,

and supported robust marketing efforts and

strong distribution networks that could both

serve existing demand and unlock more.

5. Embracing course corrections. To achieve

winnable milestones over decades, each effort

had to adapt and improve as it progressed,

in particular adjusting to changes in context

over decades, the group said.

To read the report in full, visit http://bit

.ly/2vy7AGw. ■

Study highlights key ingredients

for successful large-scale social change efforts