Why charity partnerships are more important than ever

With demand for charity services rising and funding increasingly squeezed, there’s a tendency for charities to focus on competition rather than collaboration. Many feel threatened by apparently ‘predatory’ larger charities looking to move in on their ‘patch’ and others feel the need to focus on their own fundraising and delivery rather than seeking opportunities to collaborate with others.

In our view, this is often a mistake and charities can get stuck in ‘survival mode’ rather than seeking ways to develop and grow their impact. Collaboration can bring many advantages, including:

• Access to funding that your charity may not be able to access alone (e.g. due to eligibility criteria or lack of fundraising capacity).

• Innovation in service delivery by learning from each other and sharing complementary skills and expertise.

• Lower overheads, sharing capacity and sharing risk.

• Simplicity for public sector commissioners, who prefer to manage fewer contracts.

• Increased profile.

All these can be true both for collaboration between similar sized organisations and for smaller charities collaborating with the national and regional ‘big hitters'.

However, smaller charities are often afraid of collaborating with large charities, fearing that they will be swallowed up or dictated to by the larger partner. That is certainly a risk, but with the right values fit, those risks can be managed and the advantages can be immense.

Many of the issues larger charities are trying to address require grassroots solutions that only smaller charities can offer. Conversely, larger charities are often better placed, and have more capacity, to bid for funding including public sector contracts and larger grants. Having secured that funding, they can subcontract to smaller partners so that all benefit financially from the partnership. Larger charities also usually have a decent sized team raising unrestricted funding (e.g. from donations) that smaller charities struggle to access at scale. Moreover, many funders are actively promote partnership approaches to tacking the more deep seated challenges plaguing communities.

This should make collaboration a strategic priority for most charities, regardless of their size: more can be achieved by working together than by competing with each other, but it must be underpinned by mutual trust. That trust must exist between boards, senior management and frontline staff.

In the end, lasting trust will be the product of relationships and experience; seeing is believing. At the outset, trust may need to be generated in a more deliberate way - investing time in working out solutions together, undertaking due diligence (in both directions) and in the larger organisation bearing the costs of this development work (such as independent facilitation, legal advice, etc.) because, frankly, it can and the smaller partner cannot. Therefore, getting a new collaboration off to a strong start with mutual trust takes time and resources. Anxieties and tensions need to be addressed head on and turned into a positive, creative advantage, by building trust based on shared values and shared goals; an open and honest relationship is essential if trust is to be maintained.

Only once that platform of trust and shared objectives has been secured should the partners start to work out the details of the collaboration structure, be that a subcontracting relationship, a formal consortium or a looser partnership arrangement (such as cross-referral pathways).

Often, getting expert help can be really helpful to facilitate the early phases of developing a collaboration; to build trust, decide on structures and identify and manage risks.

If you would like to find out more about how to set up a successful collaboration please contact us at julian@almondtreeconsulting.co.uk to arrange free initial telephone discussion