A priority for SERN’s strategic sunset was to document and share the approaches and processes we used that can support the continued progress of the student experience field–and inform the work of other fields with related needs and demands, both within and beyond education.
SERN performed an intermediary, behind-the-scenes function essential to advancing systems change that has been conceptualized as a “field catalyst,” although it also goes by other names. This type of work is often overlooked and under-resourced by funders because it does not fit the mental model of a typical nonprofit. It also brings with it a unique set of strategic and organizational needs.
Below are resources intended to contribute to the emergent knowledge base about field catalysts and be of value to others serving in field catalyst roles and those who partner with them.
Field Catalyst Communications Collateral
Together with The Bridgespan Group, SERN produced the following communications collateral explaining what field catalysts are and the important role they play in advancing equitable systems change. These Creative Commons-licensed resources are designed for use by others who wish to communicate about these types of organizations with their own audiences.
This two-page overview explains the need filled by field catalysts and the specific roles they play in advancing equitable systems change.
This two-minute video provides a brief introduction to field catalysts and their contribution to equitable systems change through two examples.
The following short case studies feature four examples of field catalysts’ work, spanning a variety of topics, field-building strategies, and geographies. Collectively, these case studies highlight different ways field catalysts advance their fields and their impact.
- The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
- Power to Decide
- RBM Partnership to End Malaria
- Student Experience Research Network
SERN’s Field Catalyst Lessons
This eight-part series documents SERN’s core strategic and organizational practices and lessons learned as a field catalyst.
- Launching a Field Catalyst: Creating Favorable Conditions for Field-Level Impact
- Funding a Field Catalyst: Engaging Funders to Build Durable Buy-In
- Field Catalyst Staffing: Building and Sustaining a Team of Bridgers and Organizers
- Field Catalyst Measurement, Learning, and Evaluation: Adapting Typical Nonprofit Approaches to the Field Catalyst Context
- Agenda-setting as a Field Catalyst: Listening To and Organizing the Field
- Field Catalyst Strategy: Designing Strategies and Organizations that Can Adapt and Evolve
- Field Catalyst Communications: A Core Enabler of Field-Level Impact
- Field Catalysts and Field Funding: A Politically Sensitive and Essential Function
Field-Building Lessons from SERN’s Sunset Grant Portfolio
This synthesis of content from grantees’ final reports includes a set of lessons for field-building initiatives and investments. These lessons include strategies for enabling cross-sector collaboration and designing funding opportunities that meet field needs, improving knowledge flows and building understanding across different contexts, and investing in field leadership and capacity-building for the long term.
Additional Lessons About Partnering with Funders as a Field Catalyst
The following resources include additional information and lessons learned from how SERN partnered with its funders as a field catalyst.
- An Inside Look at the Partnership Between Funders and Field Catalysts
- Field Catalysts: The Versatile, Essential Tool Missing from Philanthropy’s Systems Change Toolbox
- Sharing Power in Philanthropic Relationships to Enhance Impact