This is part 2 in a series on community partnerships…This series came out of my two years of service with Michigan Campus Compact at Eastern Michigan University as an AmeriCorps*VISTA.
“Focus your energy on what you do best, partner for the rest” -Heart of West Michigan United Way
I love this quote because it invokes thought. It is one of those statements that really resonates differently depending on the perspective you approach it from. Those in the nonprofit world will see it as the growing expectation of their funders or just a necessity of operation; the business minded are probably thinking of partnerships with other business to get ahead. Both invoke organization to organization connections, but within the same realm of operation of profit or nonprofit. The real question is, do you partner?
If you feel uncomfortable partnering, evaluate that first. There is a certain level of exposure that comes with partnerships. This doesn’t mean perfecting the ship before setting sail but it means being very aware of your own situation. A partnership approach appropriately takes into account issues and people not traditionally included in the decision making process. Organizations that consider stakeholder engagement and community partnerships have the opportunity to add value to themselves as well as to the communities in which they operate in and have an impact on. Through a mutually beneficial relationship, increased engagement generates social capital which increases the social and economic value of the organization. The “Shareholder Engagement Guidelines and Priorities” by the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation states that the best, and better embedded, solutions are ones that can involve and bring to bear the perspectives, capabilities and networks of a diversity of stakeholders and industry players. Even in the current economic climate, it is a process that can bring about additional value.
An organization well known and involved in its communities and with other organizations can increase their brand strength and also invite honest evaluation and feedback on programs and processes specifically meant to address those groups and individuals. A inclusive approach insures that these programs and processes are in response to their self-identified needs and issues important to both the company and its stakeholders. Effective and strategically aligned partnerships can do:
For you:
- Promotes ownership and institutionalization
- Cost-effectiveness
- Supports organizational goals
- Better understanding of impacts and efforts
- Avoids guesswork in serving community
- Better management of risk and reputation
- Inform, educate and influence the community environment to improve decision making and actions that impact you
- Better understanding of community network and the ability to identify changes and opportunities
Together:
- Coordinated planning
- Cost-effectiveness
- Expands reach of programs
- Not “going it alone”
- Supports long-term project support
- Learning that results in service and process improvements
- Build trust
- Better ability to mutually solve problems
Like the measurable metrics of policies and procedures, thinking about partnerships as a strategic process adds a necessary feedback loop of continuous improvement. Information then becomes readily available to identify and report on relationships with common organizational strategic initiatives including financial, customer, internal, learning and growth, and non-market perspectives.
Share some examples of your own successful partnerships.
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