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It helps to think about all of the levels of partnerships that exist among non-profit organizations. Some of us tend to equate partnerships with words like mergers or acquisitions, and then react negatively to the corporate language. There is a broad range of possibilities. The stories in this workbook portray many of the different possibilities.
Experience also suggests that partnering becomes more difficult, time consuming, and conflictual the further down one goes along the following "ladder" of partnering:
1. Sharing Information
Historically, this is a common form of partnering among community service agencies. Non-profit organizations in like service areas, or more broadly in smaller communities, come together regularly to share information about what they are doing, their successes, and their plans for the future. Many Big Brother Big Sister agencies and Boys and Girls Clubs are part of these interagency forums and structures.
2. Carrying Out A Time Limited Joint Project
A joint project might be a specific educational or fund raising event, or a common training video for volunteers, or a joint volunteer recruitment campaign. There is always a beginning and an end to a joint project, which makes it easier to work together. Typically, joint projects are about something new, which also makes it easier to work together.
Joint projects are also the easiest way for two or more organizations to begin to build a relationship together that may lead to deeper forms of partnering.
3. Developing Protocols For Referring Clients
Children, young people, and families have diverse needs and interests. They may well benefit from a mentoring program, or from after school social recreational activities. But, they may also need access to counseling, summer camps, childcare services, or extra help with schooling.
The idea behind developing protocols for referring clients aims at helping children, young people, and families enter one door into the community service system; and, through that door, find access to a range of resources which may be delivered by other organizations.
4. Establishing Joint Programs
Imagine two organizations agreeing to develop a new program together, through some form of joint venture. Perhaps it is an in school mentoring effort, created as a joint venture by a local Boys and Girls Club, the school district, and a Big Brothers Big Sisters agency in a nearby city. Or, perhaps it is a Boys and Girls Club, started as a joint venture by a Big Brother Big Sisters agency and a local school that has space. The story about Edmonton (page 98) presents one picture of this approach.
The two or more organizations pool their separate and diverse expertise, credibility, experience, and resources on behalf of children, youth, and families, and the broader community. The commitment goes beyond the idea of a short-term joint project to ensure long-term program quality and sustainability.
This is the first type of what this workbook means by deeper partnering.
The relationship between the two or more organizations is ongoing; requires more trust; and, takes ongoing care and nurturance.
5. Living Together Under One Roof
Co-location can be simply sharing space in the same building. As in many office buildings, the walls create boundaries, and there is little sharing of other resources. Co-location, however, can also be a much deeper level of partnering where organizations come together to share space, equipment, telephone systems, and reception services. The story about Wetaskiwin (page 92) portrays this approach.
At one level, their hope is that this will reduce costs.
At a deeper level, their hope is that by informally interacting together, in the corridors and lunch room, staff and volunteers will build relationships that may lead to other ways of partnering such as joint projects and programs, and to joint approaches to working with particular children, youth, and families.
Experience suggests that this is not easy, and does not happen unless it is given due and continuing attention.
6. Sharing Administrative Resources
Many non-profit organizations, including Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies and Boys and Girls Clubs, know what they want and need to do, lack the managers and staff to carry out the work, and do not have the financial resources to hire these managers and staff alone. This is where sharing administrative resources becomes an important strategy to consider.
Imagine several agencies agreeing, together, to hire a Director of Human Resources, who could work with each organization in turn to develop solid human resource policies and practices, provide on-going advice to each organization (for example: about difficult employees), and develop joint professional development opportunities. Or, imagine the same kind of position focused on volunteer recruitment, support, coordination, and evaluation issues. Or, imagine several small community organizations agreeing to jointly hire an Executive Director, who would provide senior leadership and management supports in each of the separate organizations. The stories about Red Deer (page 58) and Wetaskiwin (page 92) portray this approach.
This level of deep partnering is very difficult. It requires considerable trust and openness among the partners, and a commitment to the long term. However, when it works, it can provide immense dividends to each partner.
7. Creating A Federation
A federation is an association of community agencies who essentially work together, but keep their organizational identities separate. The association is likely "glued" together by common agreements about vision, goals, values, policies, programs, and practices. It is as if there is one strategic plan, but many different players implementing that plan, separately and together.
Federations lie somewhere between joint programs, living together under one roof, and shared administrative resources on the one side, and formal mergers on the other.
The two national associations, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada and Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada are both a type of federation.
8. Creating One Organization
The deepest level of partnering is merging two or more organizations together into one single legal entity. The story about Delta (page 129) shows this approach. This takes considerable work to do successfully.
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