JFN members know full well the myriad benefits when funders collaborate. The power of the collective engenders a form of giving that has both deeper meaning and a lasting impact. Which is not to say that collaborations are an easy thing to pull off. Far from it. 

When a common goal meets up with competing agendas, things can get messy. But when all of the moving parts are assembled into a well-oiled machine, it can be a thing of beauty, not to mention a game changer when addressing a pressing societal need.

To see how it can be done--to be sure, there's more than one approach--we're revisiting an interview that appeared last year in Essentials, the magazine put out by Exponent Philanthropy, formerly the Association of Small Foundations. It features insights from two funders of different stripes, Emily Tow Jackson of the Tow Foundation and Liz Sak of the Cricket Island Foundation. Jackson talks about her foundation's origin and how it came to find its mission in concert with like-minded funders. Sak reflects on what makes for a successful funder collaborative.

To be sure, there's a lot of sweat equity involved, but when funders come together the results can be dramatic. Jackson and Sak offer some inspiring examples for how that can happen.