The Kauffman Foundation’s Collective Impact Grant

Economic mobility is not set up overnight. It is established over a period of time with collaborative, strategic, inclusive action, especially in communities with entrenched inequities. That is why the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation began its Collective Impact Grant in an attempt to support groups of high-capacity organizations in the Kansas City region. As a two-step process, you plan and you act, it is designed to catalyze systems-wide solutions filling economic mobility gaps with education, equal access, and links with employers.

Here is a detailed examination of how this aggressive funding model is pushing Kauffman's 2035 mission forward and how coalitions can position themselves to benefit.

A New Era of Collaborative Philanthropy

The Kauffman Foundation's grantmaking adjustment is an exercise in profound listening and strategic refinement. Consultations with grantees, civic leaders, and communities informed an ambitious 2035 plan: make greater Kansas City a national model for economic mobility for everyone.

Centered on three strategic objectives: college access and completion, workforce and career development, and entrepreneurship, this vision creates grant avenues for transformative, sustainable change.

Collective Impact is at the heart of this method: rather than invest in isolated projects, the Foundation now invests in multi-stakeholder coalitions that create systems change at scale.

Understanding the Collective Impact Grant

Two-Stage Design: Planning + Implementation

Planning Grants

• Some such coalitions involving a single trusted intermediary were granted up to $500,000.
• Grants are for use in developing a robust systems-change plan.
• Coalitions have roughly nine months in which to refine their strategy.

Implementation Grants

• From $5 million to $20 million over multiple years.
• Invitation only for those ready coalitions which were granted Planning grants.

The whole cycle, first planning, then action, assures coalitions not only are financed but are enhanced in capacity and direction in order to effect meaningful change.

Who Can Lead & What Coalitions Should Do

The Foundation pays for a coalition but only one intermediary organization submits an application. The organization:

• Manages strategic development
• Manages stakeholder communication
• Serves as a basis for the initiative

Coalitions will have to develop strategies in alignment with Kauffman’s priorities, especially education + employer connections and equitable access, and engage community members in design and implementation in substantial ways.

Successful first-round grantees (the 66 coalitions that competed were funded in six) share a set of focus areas including entrepreneurship education, alignment with the workforce system, use of technology, and access.

Grant Amount & Timing

As in the 2025–2026 cycle:

The Foundation also continues to make its Capacity Building, Project, and Research grants available on its standard cycles.

Why Collective Impact Exists

Systems-Level Emphasis

As opposed to disconnected interventions, this model addresses system-wide causes in multiple sectors related to interconnecting training jobs ecosystems.

Backbone Leadership

The intermediary is an organizational cornerstone, connecting coordination of strategy, shared measurement, and alliance alignment, all necessary components of Collective Impact theory.

Strategic Management with Equity

Kauffman’s priorities specifically include equitable access and employer connection, signaling inclusive economic development.

Deep Community Engagement

The Foundation's new strategy was directed by hundreds of community and civic stakeholders, which brought local knowledge and credibility.

Steps for Aspiring Coalitions

1. Assess Your Coalition Readiness
   • Find a credible intermediary entity in a position to head strategy, grant administration, and coordination
   • Map stakeholder roles and member organizations
2. Get Familiar with Foundation Priorities
   • Design strategies consistent with college access, workforce development, or entrepreneurship
   • Incorporate equitable access or alignment with employers
3. Recruit Community Authentically
   • Highlight how members participate in planning and implementation, with best practices in Collective Impact
4. Create Shared Metrics
   • Initiate harmonization in measurement approaches between partner coalitions for accountability and measurement of impact
5. Track Future Cycles
   • The planning grants become available in Summer 2026
   • The next implementation phase is planned for early 2027

Collective Impact in Context

The Collective Impact framework mentions five pillars:

• Common Agenda
• Shared Measurement
• Mutually Reinforcing Activities
• Continuous Communication
• Backbone Organization

Kauffman's model falls into this mold by requiring a backbone intermediary, common vision, buy-in amongst a community, results which are measurable, and collaboration amongst sectors.

Yet reflection in practice warns: equity is not somehow inserted, it requires active inclusion. Coalitions can make inclusive leadership and sharing of power in the model a prime consideration.

Kansas City in Action: Exemplary Coalitions

Some of those early Collective Impact planning grantees include:

• Coalition for Equity and Opportunity – Focused on access pathways, including organizations like Phoenix Family and United Way of Greater Kansas City
• Entrepreneurship Education Initiative – Led by KCKCC in partnership with Babson College among other entities
• KC Tech Council – With members including Garmin and H&R Block
• Regional University Research Collective – University collaboration between several universities
• Teach KC Collaborative – Prioritizing mobility and learning
• Returning Citizen Consortium – Committed to issues concerning workforce reentry

These coalitions showcase initiative breadth across tech, education, returning citizens, entrepreneurship, and equity.

What This Means for Kansas City and Beyond

By doing so, the Kauffman Foundation is not just giving, it is leading by example what effective 21st-century philanthropy needs to do. By asking coalitions to rethink systems, resource mobilization, and measurement, Kauffman is:

• Catalyzing sustainable regional transformation
• Creating an economic mobility playbook for increased equity
• Demonstrating how grantmaking can contribute to community-driven solutions

Ready to Move Systems to Impact?

For Kansas City-area leaders whose organizations are in a position of capacity and foresight for thinking about system-wide change, the Collective Impact Grant is an enabling agent with credibility behind it. Organize around Kauffman’s mission, develop your backbone, and put equity and community at the core of what you do.

Learn about the Collective Impact Grant and prepare for the 2026 cycle on the Kauffman Foundation's Grantmaking page.