By Shruti Venkatesan, Associate Director, Saamuhika Shakti
In a collective impact initiative, the backbone organisation plays a critical role in holding the collective together—facilitating coordination, fostering trust among partners, aligning strategies, and ensuring steady progress toward shared goals. Given this central role, a change in the backbone can disrupt momentum, delay outcomes, and erode partner confidence. But, transitions are inevitable. It is therefore imperative to plan for them consciously and collaboratively.
This article draws on the lived experience of Saamuhika Shakti. In 2024, Saamuhika Shakti underwent a significant transition when The/Nudge Institute exited its role as the backbone organisation due to a shift in its organisational strategy. What followed was a carefully stewarded process, co-led by outgoing backbone i.e. The/Nudge Institute, the incoming backbone i.e. Sattva Consulting and the program’s funder-initiator i.e. H&M Foundation to ensure seamless continuity in program operations and impact.
The article explores four key dimensions of this transition:
Once The/Nudge Institute (T/NI) made the decision to step away from its role as the backbone organisation, it promptly and transparently communicated this to the funder. Although the decision came as a surprise, it was met with respect and understanding. Both partners quickly aligned on the importance of a thoughtful, collaborative transition process to ensure continuity and sustained impact.
“It did not feel ideal to receive the news that T/NI had to withdraw as backbone. Our initial concerns revolved around the deep trust that T/NI had built within the collective, and the strong relationship they had with all partners, both on an organizational and individual level. As CI is not a commonly known model in India, we were also apprehensive about finding a suitable organisation that would have the right mindset and organizational capability to take over the baton as orchestrator of this very complex collaborative.” – Maria Bystedt, Program Director, H&M Foundation
It was agreed by both partners that the outgoing backbone would drive a phased communication and transition strategy, given its deep engagement with the collective. Additionally, given T/NI’s familiarity with the Indian impact ecosystem, H&M Foundation believed that it would be best for the collective going forward, for T/NI to identify suitable backbone organisations, and to curate a contextualised selection framework that will enable H&M Foundation to make an informed selection.
Throughout the transition, both the outgoing backbone and the funder remained closely involved—anchoring the process in mutual trust, shared intent, and a commitment to the long-term success of the collective. Their collaborative approach helped ensure continuity, reduced uncertainty among partners, and laid the groundwork for a smooth handover.
The process that was adopted by the outgoing backbone focused on the following key levers.
Strategic and phased communication: The outgoing backbone, led a phased communication strategy to minimise uncertainty among key stakeholders, starting with the internal backbone team members first. Subsequently, the funders were informed, and in close collaboration with them, the communication to the rest of the stakeholders were sequenced deliberately—steering committee members, program leads, and finally, the broader ecosystem, including waste picker communities and other partners.
In addition to this structured communication, the outgoing backbone created spaces (Steering Committee meetings and need based 1:1 leadership syncs) for open dialogue where the transition was transparently discussed with core program stakeholders. These conversations surfaced valuable insights on the qualities and considerations essential for selecting a new backbone organisation, which were subsequently integrated into the transition process.
Subsequently, the outgoing backbone organised an ‘All Partner Meet’ to formally kickstart Phase 2 of Saamuhika Shakti and onboard the new backbone organisation. This space served as a platform for the incoming backbone to co-facilitate dialogue alongside the outgoing team, helping to foster a genuinely collaborative environment. It also provided a valuable opportunity for the new backbone to engage with partners, build trust, and integrate seamlessly into the collective.
Completion of critical programmatic threads: The outgoing backbone prioritised the timely completion of key programmatic deliverables to ensure continuity in both operations and impact. This was extremely critical as Saamuhika Shakti was shifting over to Phase 2 following the completion of Phase 1 of the program, whilst undergoing a backbone transition. This period also involved other significant shifts such as the exit of some delivery partners and the onboarding of new ones. To support a smooth transition, the outgoing backbone focused on the following priority pieces:
This also enabled the incoming backbone to have a more cohesive and streamlined start to their journey as part of the collective.
Continued support to the incoming backbone: Lastly, and most importantly, the outgoing backbone remained actively engaged in supporting the incoming backbone through a consultative and collaborative approach. This support was structured in three ways:
Additionally, two members from the outgoing backbone team were integrated into the incoming backbone team. This not only ensured continuity across two critical program tracks but also provided the new team with ready access to institutional memory and context.
The outgoing backbone and the funder jointly developed a comprehensive selection framework to guide the process of identifying a suitable incoming backbone organization. This framework was designed to ensure alignment with the collective’s long-term vision and was rooted in six key criteria:
Together, these criteria helped create a structured, transparent, and value-driven selection process.
As soon as Sattva Consulting came onboard in early 2024, it became imperative to maintain operational continuity while simultaneously addressing the evolving strategic priorities of Phase 2. From the outset, the new backbone had to engage with several emerging focus areas such as revisiting and strengthening the program’s theory of change, refining MEL systems to align with updated objectives, amplifying programmatic learnings through thought leadership, and deepening efforts around collaboration, systems change, gender mainstreaming in programming, and sustainability planning.
To navigate this complexity, Sattva adopted a learning-oriented and interactive approach to program delivery. This involved regularly revisiting priorities with key stakeholders and establishing shorter feedback loops with both the funder and delivery partners to assess the quality and depth of implementation. High intensity of periodic touchpoints with all the key stakeholders and in-person meetings with program leads as well as waste picker communities contributed to immense learning and rapport building.
Staying open to learning, actively incorporating feedback, and innovating thoughtfully without reinventing the wheel, proved critical in building rigour and sustaining momentum through the transition.
The transition of a backbone organisation in a collective impact initiative is a time and effort intensive process that demands intentional design, patience, and commitment. Our experience at Saamuhika Shakti demonstrates that mutual trust, transparency, effective and timely communication, coupled with genuine collaboration among all stakeholders, is critical to navigating this complexity successfully. Factoring these requirements into an exit and transition strategy from the very beginning is essential to ensure continuity, sustain momentum, and safeguard the collective’s long-term impact.
In April this year, Akshay Soni (Executive Director of Saamuhika Shakti from The/Nudge Institute) and I had the incredible opportunity to share our experiences and learnings of managing Saamuhika Shakti’s backbone transition at the 2025 Collective Impact Action Summit, fostering cross-learning with other collective impact initiatives and ecosystem players.
🎥 Tune into the session recording to know more.
By Shruti Venkatesan, Associate Director, Saamuhika Shakti
In a collective impact initiative, the backbone organisation plays a critical role in holding the collective together—facilitating coordination, fostering trust among partners, aligning strategies, and ensuring steady progress toward shared goals. Given this central role, a change in the backbone can disrupt momentum, delay outcomes, and erode partner confidence. But, transitions are inevitable. It is therefore imperative to plan for them consciously and collaboratively.
This article draws on the lived experience of Saamuhika Shakti. In 2024, Saamuhika Shakti underwent a significant transition when The/Nudge Institute exited its role as the backbone organisation due to a shift in its organisational strategy. What followed was a carefully stewarded process, co-led by outgoing backbone i.e. The/Nudge Institute, the incoming backbone i.e. Sattva Consulting and the program’s funder-initiator i.e. H&M Foundation to ensure seamless continuity in program operations and impact.
The article explores four key dimensions of this transition:
Once The/Nudge Institute (T/NI) made the decision to step away from its role as the backbone organisation, it promptly and transparently communicated this to the funder. Although the decision came as a surprise, it was met with respect and understanding. Both partners quickly aligned on the importance of a thoughtful, collaborative transition process to ensure continuity and sustained impact.
“It did not feel ideal to receive the news that T/NI had to withdraw as backbone. Our initial concerns revolved around the deep trust that T/NI had built within the collective, and the strong relationship they had with all partners, both on an organizational and individual level. As CI is not a commonly known model in India, we were also apprehensive about finding a suitable organisation that would have the right mindset and organizational capability to take over the baton as orchestrator of this very complex collaborative.” – Maria Bystedt, Program Director, H&M Foundation
It was agreed by both partners that the outgoing backbone would drive a phased communication and transition strategy, given its deep engagement with the collective. Additionally, given T/NI’s familiarity with the Indian impact ecosystem, H&M Foundation believed that it would be best for the collective going forward, for T/NI to identify suitable backbone organisations, and to curate a contextualised selection framework that will enable H&M Foundation to make an informed selection.
Throughout the transition, both the outgoing backbone and the funder remained closely involved—anchoring the process in mutual trust, shared intent, and a commitment to the long-term success of the collective. Their collaborative approach helped ensure continuity, reduced uncertainty among partners, and laid the groundwork for a smooth handover.
The process that was adopted by the outgoing backbone focused on the following key levers.
Strategic and phased communication: The outgoing backbone, led a phased communication strategy to minimise uncertainty among key stakeholders, starting with the internal backbone team members first. Subsequently, the funders were informed, and in close collaboration with them, the communication to the rest of the stakeholders were sequenced deliberately—steering committee members, program leads, and finally, the broader ecosystem, including waste picker communities and other partners.
In addition to this structured communication, the outgoing backbone created spaces (Steering Committee meetings and need based 1:1 leadership syncs) for open dialogue where the transition was transparently discussed with core program stakeholders. These conversations surfaced valuable insights on the qualities and considerations essential for selecting a new backbone organisation, which were subsequently integrated into the transition process.
Subsequently, the outgoing backbone organised an ‘All Partner Meet’ to formally kickstart Phase 2 of Saamuhika Shakti and onboard the new backbone organisation. This space served as a platform for the incoming backbone to co-facilitate dialogue alongside the outgoing team, helping to foster a genuinely collaborative environment. It also provided a valuable opportunity for the new backbone to engage with partners, build trust, and integrate seamlessly into the collective.
Completion of critical programmatic threads: The outgoing backbone prioritised the timely completion of key programmatic deliverables to ensure continuity in both operations and impact. This was extremely critical as Saamuhika Shakti was shifting over to Phase 2 following the completion of Phase 1 of the program, whilst undergoing a backbone transition. This period also involved other significant shifts such as the exit of some delivery partners and the onboarding of new ones. To support a smooth transition, the outgoing backbone focused on the following priority pieces:
This also enabled the incoming backbone to have a more cohesive and streamlined start to their journey as part of the collective.
Continued support to the incoming backbone: Lastly, and most importantly, the outgoing backbone remained actively engaged in supporting the incoming backbone through a consultative and collaborative approach. This support was structured in three ways:
Additionally, two members from the outgoing backbone team were integrated into the incoming backbone team. This not only ensured continuity across two critical program tracks but also provided the new team with ready access to institutional memory and context.
The outgoing backbone and the funder jointly developed a comprehensive selection framework to guide the process of identifying a suitable incoming backbone organization. This framework was designed to ensure alignment with the collective’s long-term vision and was rooted in six key criteria:
Together, these criteria helped create a structured, transparent, and value-driven selection process.
As soon as Sattva Consulting came onboard in early 2024, it became imperative to maintain operational continuity while simultaneously addressing the evolving strategic priorities of Phase 2. From the outset, the new backbone had to engage with several emerging focus areas such as revisiting and strengthening the program’s theory of change, refining MEL systems to align with updated objectives, amplifying programmatic learnings through thought leadership, and deepening efforts around collaboration, systems change, gender mainstreaming in programming, and sustainability planning.
To navigate this complexity, Sattva adopted a learning-oriented and interactive approach to program delivery. This involved regularly revisiting priorities with key stakeholders and establishing shorter feedback loops with both the funder and delivery partners to assess the quality and depth of implementation. High intensity of periodic touchpoints with all the key stakeholders and in-person meetings with program leads as well as waste picker communities contributed to immense learning and rapport building.
Staying open to learning, actively incorporating feedback, and innovating thoughtfully without reinventing the wheel, proved critical in building rigour and sustaining momentum through the transition.
The transition of a backbone organisation in a collective impact initiative is a time and effort intensive process that demands intentional design, patience, and commitment. Our experience at Saamuhika Shakti demonstrates that mutual trust, transparency, effective and timely communication, coupled with genuine collaboration among all stakeholders, is critical to navigating this complexity successfully. Factoring these requirements into an exit and transition strategy from the very beginning is essential to ensure continuity, sustain momentum, and safeguard the collective’s long-term impact.
In April this year, Akshay Soni (Executive Director of Saamuhika Shakti from The/Nudge Institute) and I had the incredible opportunity to share our experiences and learnings of managing Saamuhika Shakti’s backbone transition at the 2025 Collective Impact Action Summit, fostering cross-learning with other collective impact initiatives and ecosystem players.
🎥 Tune into the session recording to know more.
