We talk a lot about learning best practices from other organizations. And, yes, it’s a great idea to look at another team’s map and use it as a guideline on your journey. But, what if you decide to hook up and walk the path together?
When it comes to philanthropy on a big scale, is there strength in numbers? Many organizations are saying “yes” as they link together to meet common goals. Collaborations between foundations and between non-profits and communities are becoming downright trendy, and that’s a good thing — goals are better achieved (or if not, lessons learned for improvement), new structures and relationships are developed for future alliances, and potential consolidation of practices can be examined with an eye toward increased capacity and integration.
Pitfalls exist for teams that don’t approach partnerships with enough internal and external strategic planning, but – good news – enough models are emerging now for collaboration between entities of every size that best practices are available for the picking, even in the international sphere. The increased willingness of foundations to collaborate with to learn from each other, align efforts and create and implement solutions on micro or large scales is allowing great things to happen all over the world. Go teams! See how they’re doing it in this issue of GMNsight: Collaboration.
Together, these six foundations were able to inform public discussion, build trust and transparency among the diverse parties engaged in that discussion, help create consensus, amplify voices of communities most likely to be affected by finance reform, and continually monitor…
But how does strategic philanthropy differ from non-strategic philanthropy? What is the role of collaboration?
The philanthropic field now largely recognizes the importance of collaboration, but few funders fully exploit this powerful change-making tool. Here’s how three different forms of collaboration can amplify impact and fit with any funder’s strategy, time constraints, and financial resources.
Collaboration can be very challenging to traditional notions of leadership.
Our model is built on the belief that no organization or sector can create transformative social change on its own, but visionary social entrepreneurs, philanthropists and cross-sector partners can lead (and are leading) the way to a dramatically different and…
Funders in all philanthropic sectors are increasingly pooling or coordinating funding for greater impact, or to address particularly challenging social and environmental problems.
In a world where government and international donors far “outfund” philanthropy institutions, collaboration is one of the major ways that foundations of all sizes can increase their impact on a global scale.
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