Giving Compass' Take:

• Cities can use these strategies to use contractors more effectively, making a bigger impact. 

• How can the nonprofit sector co-opt these methods for their own projects? How can philanthropy help cities to better use contractors? 

• Learn more about pay for success contracting models. 

Contracts are often a linchpin to successful cities. It's typical for contractors to be responsible for road construction, waste collection, grounds maintenance and a wide range of social services, from sheltering the homeless to workforce development. Increasingly, cities also are contracting with IT companies to modernize core functions and develop robust data-analysis capabilities.

Yet despite the centrality of these common partnerships to city life, cities tend to neglect the procurement function and take the path of least resistance to contracting, which is rarely the optimal route.

As part of Bloomberg Philanthropies' What Works Cities initiative, the Harvard Kennedy School's Government Performance Lab (GPL) has been helping 26 U.S. cities transform how they partner with the private sector by applying a strategic lens to planning, structuring and managing at least one of their highest-priority procurements.

  1. Clearly articulate goals and/or problems to be solved.
  2. Design the procurement to align contractor interests with achieving those goals.
  3. Provide direction without being overly prescriptive.
  4. Engage the marketplace to understand vendor capabilities and leverage competition.
  5. Track progress toward contract goals.
  6. Consider tying payment to performance.
  7. Use performance data to make future procurement decisions and manage ongoing contracts.
  8. Strategically manage all key procurements and contracts.

Read the full article about city contracting by Hanna Azemati at Governing.