The power of two: Collaboration as a versatile tool to weather tough times

The new year is a time to reflect on the highs and lows of the previous year, set goals for 2010 and determine strategies to achieve those goals.

The 54th annual report on philanthropy, “Giving USA,” researched and written by the Center of Philanthropy at Indiana University, was recently released by the Giving USA Foundation and showed that charitable giving in 2008 decreased 2 percent from 2007 (or 5.7 percent adjusted for inflation), representing the first decrease since 1987. The numbers for 2009 are still unknown and predictions for 2010 uncertain. It is in this environment that nonprofits are exploring more creative techniques to sustain their missions.

Collaborative efforts

A collaboration can be as simple as information sharing or a one-time or annual joint event. It can also be more complex like joint programming, administrative collaborations, shared facilities or a merger.

When carefully structured, collaborations create synergies that lead to increased visibility of missions and programs, enhanced focus on core services, reduced operating expenses, shared knowledge and expertise, increased donors, board members and volunteer recruits and new funding opportunities.

One simple idea turned into an annual collaborative event is “Notes from a Hospital Bed,” a theatrical poetry fundraiser to benefit the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital. Young actors from the Infinity Repertory Theater Company of The Pulse Performing Arts Studio donate their time to perform soulful poetry written by pediatric patients in the Poetry Corner program of the hospital. The Pulse contributes its space for the performance and Trish’s Ribbon, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting local causes, provides financial assistance. The benefits go beyond fundraising; as it introduces the performers and their families and friends to the hospital’s mission and services; gives voice to and a method of healing for the patients; and teaches the young performers the meaning of service to others, fostering a new generation of socially responsible citizens.

A more formal collaboration model is the intergenerational program known as “Jewel” (Joining Elders with Early Learners) run by the Mount Kisco Child Care Center, an early care and education program and My Second Home, a division of Family Services of Westchester, an adult day program. Inspired by the vision of Jewel’s founding donor, the child care center and My Second Home created a joint program where children and seniors come together to garden, paint, sing, read, cook and develop meaningful relationships. The program, now in its 11th year, is located in a facility owned by the center, a portion of which is leased by My Second Home. The shared site creates a strong sense of community, leads to a high level of interaction between the participants and permits the organizations to share program costs, as well as facility, food service and utility costs. Dottie Jordan, the executive director of the center and Rina Bellamy, the executive director of My Second Home say that in addition to the benefits to participants, the collaboration has led to increased funding support, greater public visibility and an increased pool of board members and volunteers for each of their organizations.

Strategic sense

Collaborations can also be utilized to reduce an organization’s operating expenses. These types of ventures include jointly leasing office space or leasing space in an office suite (or subletting excess office space) and allocating fixed costs such as computer servers, telephone systems, office equipment and general office personnel; sharing knowledge, skills and expertise, including training opportunities to benefit all staff; and forming a cooperative of nonprofits to purchase commonly used services (e.g. printing, graphics, insurance, fuel or cleaning).

To determine which type of collaboration is appropriate for an organization, some factors to consider include the type of services provided, the age of the organization, the budget size, whether an organization is a recipient of multiple sources of governmental funding and the extent of board linkages to other nonprofits.

One study concluded that an organization is more likely to engage in a more formal collaboration when it is older, has smaller resource sufficiency (a greater need to gain access to critical resources), relies heavily on a single or small number of government funding sources, has more contacts with other nonprofits through its board members and is not operating in education and research or the social service industry (see http://nvs.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/34/3/340 for an abstract of the study and information on how to obtain a full copy).

Catherine Marsh, executive director of Westchester Community Foundation, has seen a growing trend in collaboration among nonprofits, especially as organizations confront the biggest economic crisis the nonprofit sector has faced in years. The foundation has awarded funding to facilitate a number of collaborations in recent years when, as Marsh says, “The collaboration makes strategic sense.”

Keep in mind

While the benefits of collaboration are numerous, if you are considering this strategic tool, it is important to be mindful of the following general factors:

Know thy partner. Due diligence is essential, including your partner’s financial and tax status, available resources for the collaboration (both personnel and funds), existing programs, organizational structure and culture.

Have a shared vision. The starting point of any strong collaboration is a vision that complements, strengthens and is consistent with the mission of the individual organizations.

Evaluate the benefits. Even if there is a shared vision, each partner should analyze the reasonable and expected goals of the collaboration. If in the end you can achieve the same goals on your own, or the benefits are minimal, collaboration may not be worth the effort.

Consult your professionals. The more formal and complex a collaboration, the more tax, accounting, licensing or legal implications there may be.

Write it down. Create a detailed “memorandum of understanding” of the collaboration, including responsibilities, tasks and accountability of each partner, the costs, sources of funding and resources for fundraising.

Be prepared to work hard and compromise. Collaborations take time, require resources, leadership and flexibility.

For nonprofits interested in exploring whether collaboration is right for their organization, www.thecollaborationprize.org. is an extensive database of some 600 existing collaborations in the U.S. The site evolved from a competition launched in 2008 for the best U.S. nonprofit collaboration by the Lodestar Foundation, whose mission includes funding long-term cooperative activities among nonprofits (www.lodestarfoundation.org). The data can be searched by type of collaboration and provides information about focus areas, management structure, benefits, challenges and community impact.

Consistent with our goal to report what is happening in the Westchester nonprofit community, if your organization is, or has been, involved in a collaboration, please contact us and tell us about it.