A study by the Bridgespan Group found that 91% of nonprofit organizations have participated in at least one form of collaboration over a three-year period. That’s an astounding number and it demonstrates the value that nonprofits place on working together with other organizations and groups to make their voices heard.
Where to Start
Finding common ground is the first step for associations to determine the best and most strategic partnership fit. Are there like-minded associations that your organization can band together with to address a common need or pursue a similar cause? Or think outside the box. For example, medical associations could band together with pharmacist organizations to deliver educational messages about a particular disease. Even connecting with corporate entities is another possibility as long as the message remains educational and non-commercial.
Ways to Collaborate
- Sign on to national initiatives sponsored by governmental bodies or a large national or international organization with a targeted outreach campaign: this is especially helpful for smaller organizations wishing to strengthen their message.
- Co-sponsor a meeting or webinar: Organizations can double or even triple their message by holding joint meetings with another like-minded group.
- Co-sponsor an educational awareness campaign: this could be targeted at a specific group with a common issue or need. Corporate entities could be brought in as sponsors.
- Speaker Exchange: ask an organization that has similar goals as yours to supply a speaker for your conference or offer to provide a speaker from your organization to speak on an issue of mutual interest.
- Publication Exchange: ask an organization to supply educational content or offer to do the same for the collaborative organization.
Meaningful Collaborations Take Time to Create
Make sure you have chosen the right partner. When thinking about the collaboration to pursue, review what your current membership needs are and if members would be willing to support and participate in such an endeavor. Does it fit the organization’s mission? Does it move its strategic goals forward?
Collaborations take time to develop in order to create a strong partnership and develop trust. They should be built to last. Making the initial contact and coming to an agreed-upon course of action could take several months. Then bringing ideas to fruition could take even longer, depending on how extensive the collaboration effort is. Staffing needs should be taken into consideration as well, since many collaborations require increased participation by management staff, due to additional tasks and logistical planning. Will additional staff need to be hired and trained? However, if swift action is needed, for example, to sign on to a pending piece of legislation or timely socioeconomic issue, the Board must act quickly to provide approval for the organization to participate.
Form a joint committee. Make sure goals and roles are clarified so there are no misunderstandings later. If a budgetary outlay is required, clearly define that as well. Create a timeline for logistics, cross-promotions, and deadlines that both participants can easily find and update online via a Google document or some other shared platform. Hold regular update calls to determine what tasks are on track and quickly identify any snags or hold-ups before they become problematic.
By working together and sharing resources, associations can make a more positive and stronger impact upon their members and society as a whole, which is the key role associations play in the first place, and one of the major reasons why they were created.