Partnership Resources

Fieldstone Alliance Nonprofit Guide to Forming Alliances: Working Together to Achieve Mutual Goals
Linda Hoskins and Emil Angelica make the case that a less intense alliance may be just as effective as a complex partnership.

Community Leadership Handbook: Framing Ideas, Building Relationships, and Mobilizing Resources
Authored by James F. Krile, this guidebook is based on Blandin Foundation’s 20-year experience in developing community leaders. Part Three, “Tools for Building and Using Social Capital,” is especially pertinent to the topic of partnerships.

Greater Than the Sum of Our Parts? A Local Funders’ Guide to Collaborating With Peers
This paper discusses characteristics common to successful funder collaborations. Additional resources can be found online here at this site created by the Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers.

MergeMinnesota
This publication includes tools created by MAP for Nonprofits’ Project ReDesign, guidance from merger experts, and a literature review.

The Nimble Collaboration: Fine-Tuning Your Collaboration for Lasting Success
Using the three “Rs” (clearly defined results, deft relationships and resilient structure), author Karen Ray demonstrates how collaborations can become leaner and more responsive.

Net Gains: Building Networks for Social Change
Madeleine Taylor and Peter Plastrik discuss using networks to weave together capacities for better leverage and results.

The Power of Partnership
Subtitled “Principles and Practices for Creating Strategic Relationships Among Nonprofit Groups, For-Profit Organizations, and Government Entities,” this publication was written by Plexus Consulting Group.

Strategic Partnerships: Related Links
United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania created this website of resources as a follow-up to a Delaware Valley Grantmakers program.

Other Resources of Interest

Grantmakers for Effective Organizations’ Smarter Grantmaking in Challenging Economic Times includes a section titled “Engage Your Stakeholders.”
www.geofunders.org/publications.aspx

The Collaboration Prize highlights nonprofits that have chosen cooperation over competition. It was created and funded by The Lodestar Foundation in collaboration with members of the Arizona-Indiana-Michigan Alliance. The website includes a database of nominees.
www.thecollaborationprize.org

Investing in Nonprofit M&A, an issues brief of Arabella Philanthropic Investment Advisors, which explores mergers and alliances (M&A) from a potential donor’s perspective.
www.arabellaadvisors.com/images/IB_files/Mergers.pdf

Guide to Successful Public-Private Partnerships for Youth Programs shares strategies based on lessons learned from national, state and local models. Authored by Nanette Relave and Sharon Deich.
http://www.financeproject.org/publications/PublicPrivate_PM.pdf

Philanthropy Potluck, the Minnesota Council on Foundations blog, covers topics about giving. Search using the “collaboration” category to read and contribute.
www.blog.mcf.org

The Nonprofit Quarterly (Winter 2008) includes the article “Nonprofits and Philanthropy: Scenario I, An Interview With Kelvin Taketa and Chris Van Bergeijk.”
www.npqmag.org GF


© Copyright 2009 Minnesota Council on Foundations
Reproduction in any form without the written permission of the publisher is prohibited.