Hi2 GUIDE TO SUCCESSFUL PARTNERSHIPS

As strong believers in collaboration, over the past few months we’ve been impressed by the number of new partnerships our Hi2 nonprofit partners have developed. We asked two of them to share their experiences with the group as we lead a discussion on the topic of partnerships.

Here are some of the points raised…

Advantages of Partnerships

• Lessen the burden and give you more room to improve and concentrate on other issues.

• Make you more visible to other funders and donors

• Help with capacity building as your organization can gain skills

• Amplify your work allowing you to have greater impact

• Done right, they are mutually beneficial

• Through partners you gain ambassadors for your organisation and build your network as people refer your work to others

• Help with the sustainability of projects

• Give an opportunity to evaluate your organisation as you see it through a fresh set of eyes. Review of policies and procedures can help strengthen your organisation’s structure. However, you should be cautious and have a firm belief in your values to avoid deviating from your core business

Struggles with Partnerships

• During a crisis, it is hard to evaluate the high volume of partners that want to come on board as you need to address the crisis immediately. This makes it difficult to do a proper background check

• Understanding each other’s expectations

• Miscommunication especially with what is required from each corner

• Losing control of the project where some partners want to do things their way

• Doing all the work and partners getting all the glory

• Some partnerships take up a lot of time but bear no fruit

• Struggling to get feedback after working with a partner

How to go approach Partnerships

• Develop a project and prepare all the documentation including needs assessment, project outline, budget, expected impact etc

• Look for people you can partner with who will add value to your project

• Break the project down and highlight potential areas of interest to prospective partners but include a full overview in case they can identify other ways in which they would like to partner

• Don’t just look at partnerships as funding opportunities. You can also seek donations in- kind and skills volunteers

Where to find Partners

• Existing networks and partnerships

• Online - research organisations that are doing similar work as you to find out who they work with or look at who gives out support and the kind or projects they are interested in

• The community in which you serve

• Friends

How to protect yourself going into a Partnership

• Have a Partnerships Policy and other policies that give guidance to the partnership e.g child protection policy

• Put the community and beneficiaries first. If the partnership will not benefit them, be willing to say no

• Draw up an MoU and get it signed by all parties involved

• Clearly communicate your expectations and understand those of the other parties involved. This includes roles, timelines, feedback required etc

• Research the organisation you are looking to partner with: background check, referrals etc.

Learn from the experience of our partners by downloading our summarised 4 Tips for Successful Partnerships