Better Together: Collaboration and Nonprofit Networking
Just last Friday, The Collaboration Prize announced its third annual winner (congratulations to the Adoption Coalition of Texas!). This annual competition is working hard to encourage collaboration and highlight outstanding partnerships in our communities.
‘Collaboration’ is one of the big buzzwords in nonprofits now. It makes sense: when budgets stretch thin, it’s important to maximize your resources. The Collaboration Prize itself is a joint effort by several pioneering organizations, The Lodestar Foundation has partnered with the AIM Alliance, the Foundation Center, La Piana Consulting, and other foundation and nonprofit leaders to support the 2011 Prize.
By working together, you’re boosting the potential of both organizations. Two heads are better than one, right? How about three? Or five?
It’s amazing how many resources are shareable. Have extra toiletries from your last donation drive? Give them to an organization that can use them. Need more volunteers for an event? Invite your friends from the nonprofit down the street to participate with their volunteers. In fact, why don’t you plan the event together and make it even bigger and better? And things go on from there.
Yet it’s not just about sharing supplies, funds, or even human resources. There are also hidden benefits. By working together, you’re combining your reputation with theirs, their public support and branding with yours. You’re sharing marketing and word-of-mouth, and we all know how valuable getting your name out there is when looking for support.
So how do we get started? Isn’t it hard to find partners?
Actually, it’s pretty easy these days. The ease of communication has advanced steadily over the past two decades, but it went up exponentially as soon as social media hit the internet. Communication is now interactive rather than passive (for more on this concept, check out my blog post on how social media makes the world accessible).
With social media, organizations can create profiles and interact with local, national, and international partners in a myriad of ways. It starts as casual chat, sharing links and information, then maybe an idea is mentioned and discussed. An opportunity is discovered. A partnership is born.
Plenty of resources are appearing to help guide and promote collaboration. If you’re completely lost, the Nonprofit Collaboration Database is a great place to start. It’s packed with helpful information as well as searchable database of nonprofits who are looking for partners.
A great book on the subject came out late last year, so if you’re into reading, check out The Networked Nonprofit by Beth Kanter and Allison Fine.
So whether you’re social media savvy or not, I encourage you to start looking around for opportunities. Give and ye shall receive. Support each other. Foster new ideas. Think outside the box to further your mission. Just make the connection!
This post was originally written by me for the ASU Lodestar Center nonprofit management blog.
Great post for non-profits to know about. I have worked with two non-profit orgs in the past ans when I suggested they collaborate with other non-profits their main concern was, “aren’t they going to be threat to us?” I the suggested they share tools and resources not not donors lists. Well needless to say they didn’t go for it. But I see how they can benefit from collaboration.
Excellent point to mention. Sharing donor lists is a no-no of course, but sharing other resources is easier than people think. Even if you just trade mentions in each others’ newsletters or websites, it’s free advertising to a group of interested supporters. Nonprofits are not islands after all! The more support you have, the better. Focus on the mission and how you get there, not whether you’re first to the finish line.
For extended or complicated partnerships where policy and legal concerns start cropping up, there are always placed like The Foundation Center if you want to look for answers yourself or the Ask the Nonprofit Specialists section of the ASU Lodestar Center if you want a direct response. Places like these can make sure both organizations are protected and nothing but good comes of the partnership.