Funders hear all different versions of “partnership” from nonprofits wanting to work with them (aka receive funding). All too often the proposed “partnership” involves the funder supporting the initiatives or priorities the applicant brings forth with minimal (or not) input from the funder. On the other hand, the applicant sees that the funder 1) has “a lot of money” and 2) supports [insert whatever general category the nonprofit works in]. Therefore, the funder is fair game to “partner.”
I’ve been on the receiving end of these requests. When I asked, “So you’re applying to receive x dollars … where is the partnership portion for the foundation?” I usually didn’t get an answer. Often all the applicant did was look up our mission and the areas we funded (e.g. “Hey, they support education – let’s apply”). There were no conversations about priorities, current and past investments, the foundation’s current goals, or what we saw as needs in the areas being discussed.
What Are Partnerships?
Partnerships come in many varieties. But generally, partnerships involve equal partners serving as collaborative thought leaders, working toward a solution to a common challenge. Partnerships are based on trust, common interest, and mutual respect for what each player brings to the process. Each partner recognizes that it alone doesn’t have all the answers and relies on the perspectives of the other partners to enhance the approach that all partners work on implementing. Strong partnerships do not develop quickly, nor do they dissolve quickly under pressure.
What partnerships are not are simple funding relationships. Those are just transactional relationships.
The Payoffs of Effective Partnerships
The different perspectives partners bring to an issue can lead to innovative, more effective solutions. When a nonprofit is receptive to a funder’s insights—rather than just paying lip service to “partnering together”—the relationship is no longer merely transactional. A level of trust develops. Failing in order to learn better approaches is much more acceptable when partnering instead of simply funding a program. And the beauty of partnering for long-term solutions is that it is more likely to lead to funding being renewed, allowing the partnership to continue to work toward those long-term solutions.
Partnerships with funders take a commitment of time to establish and may not be easy, but they can lead to amazing long-term results.
