The Trust Company Strategic Partners Symposium Multi-Sector Collaborations October 2013

1. The Trust Company Strategic Partners Symposium Multi-Sector Collaborations October 2013

2. Grantmakers For Effective Organisations Working Better Together – Building Nonprofit Collaborative Capacity (2013) “As much as funders would like to see more strategic collaborations among their grantees and other organisations, the reality for many nonprofits is that they simply do not have the time or the resources to do collective work. Each organisation must seek its own funding, develop its own plans for sustainability, create its own niche and brand, and, essentially compete with other organisations for funding and recognition.”

3. WHAT DO NONPROFITS NEED ? • Time and space to explore power of collective action to advance their missions, foster new connections and build and grow partnerships • Organisational ‘slack’ so that they can join with others to identify and work towards commonly held goals • Board and staff leaders who: • Can share power and responsibility • Are skilled at building relationships • Are adept at ‘systems thinking’ so they can see the big picture

4. Key capacities that support and enable collective action among nonprofit organisations: • Strong leadership and an open mindset • Ability to share power and responsibility • Adaptability and flexibility • Strong connectivity and relationship building

5. Approaches for Funders • Help make connections, but don’t force them • Offer core support and flexible, long-term funding to grantees • Provide necessary resources to support and enable collaboration

6. PARTNERING CYCLE The Partnering Cycle

7. Partnering Challenges

8. Partnership Brokers Partnership Brokers: • Internal – working from within one of the partner organisations • External – independent professionals working on behalf of all partners

9. Partnership Brokers Brokering Roles