What It Takes to Collaborate (Better)
Collaboration is widely recognised as a precondition for systems change. But as our Collaboration in Action report makes clear, it remains one of the hardest conditions to deliver. What does it actually take — and what keeps getting in the way?
Ask practitioners across the impact space whether collaboration matters for systems change, and the answer is nearly unanimous. In Impact Europe's survey, 88% of respondents confirmed that systems change cannot happen without it. Yet 80% also agreed that there is currently not enough collaboration to achieve it. And here is the paradox: those same practitioners rated their own organisations 7.7 out of 10 on collaboration.
In short, it seems like something is not adding up. Either collaboration is not happening in the right way, or structural barriers are undermining its effectiveness — or both.
Why collaboration falls short
The barriers are real, varied, and often deeply rooted. Across the 28 practitioner interviews and expert sessions that informed our report, a consistent picture emerged: collaboration fails not for lack of goodwill, but because of misaligned agendas, differing risk appetites, governance complexity, and a tendency to treat shared work as an add-on rather than a design principle.
"Every actor brings their own objectives, regulations, culture, and very different understandings of risk," says Deirdre Mortell, CEO at Rethink Ireland. "That's why trust-building and honest conversations about constraints are essential. Mismatched understandings of risk can derail collaborations entirely."
Foundations often operate in narrow thematic lanes that do not naturally overlap with each other — or with the priorities of private investors and public funders. Ego, branding sensitivities, and questions of control over who leads and who gets visibility compound the challenge. Meanwhile, the proliferation of reporting requirements, diverging internal processes, and a lack of shared legal frameworks for co-investments add significant friction in practice.
For actors working across borders, regulatory and jurisdictional complexity creates additional hurdles. And as development budgets tighten and public funding becomes more domestically oriented, the space for long-term, cross-border partnership is shrinking.
What collaboration actually takes
Despite these obstacles, practitioners also identified a clear set of enabling conditions — and a practical toolkit to act on them.
Trust comes first. Multiple organisations, including Good Energies Foundation (Porticus) and Jacobs Foundation, stressed that real alignment — not superficial agreement — is what creates the flexibility to navigate constraints together. When actors genuinely trust each other's values and intentions, compromising on operational details becomes far easier. "Trust and low ego are essential," says Stefan Wilhelm, Director of Social Innovation at Bayer Foundation. "The 'me first' agenda does not work anymore."
Alignment on risk must happen early. Practitioners from Bizkaia, Fount, BlueOrchard, FASE, and Acumen all pointed to clarity on risk appetite as a critical success factor. Bringing private impact capital providers in early, using standardised structures, and deploying mechanisms such as guarantees or catalytic first-loss layers can significantly reduce friction and build confidence among partners.
Strong intermediaries make a difference. Intermediaries who can speak multiple languages — financial, philanthropic, and operational — are consistently undervalued. They reduce transaction costs, facilitate matchmaking, build shared due diligence, and help partners navigate each other's constraints without getting stuck on incompatible assumptions.
Patience and flexible capital are non-negotiable. Multi-actor partnerships take time to negotiate and deliver. Long-term financing commitments, particularly concessional or multi-year capital, stabilise collaborations and create the conditions for genuine innovation.
Shared tools and standards reduce duplication. Common impact criteria, joint due diligence processes, and standardised reporting structures help partners move faster and give funders confidence in each other's work.
When it works, it shifts sectors
These are not abstract principles. When applied with discipline, this collaborative toolkit can shift norms and practices at sector level.
Daniel Brewer, Founder of Resonance, describes how consistent collaboration enabled systems change in a UK homelessness property fund: monthly problem-solving meetings with housing partners, a shared commitment to standing up for one another, and equal respect for both tenants and investors. The result is an initiative that is not only effective but actively challenging a sector where tenants have historically had little power — and demonstrating that a fairer approach is possible.
The bigger picture
Achieving collaboration at scale requires more than organisational goodwill. It requires enabling conditions at the ecosystem level: legal and regulatory frameworks that support blended and hybrid vehicles, accessible entry routes for smaller organisations, and a shared evidence base that documents what works and what does not — including honest accounts of failure.
Impact Europe's research confirms that the barriers to collaboration are persistent but not insurmountable. What they require is intentionality: early alignment on purpose and risk, clear governance, patient capital, and the humility to build something bigger than any single actor could achieve alone.
The full picture — including the role of catalytic capital, outcomes frameworks, and theory of change — is explored in the Collaboration in Action report.