Our social sector has reached a critical juncture in its ability to address society’s most pressing needs. Economic crises, natural disasters, declines in philanthropic support, and a variety of societal factors have created an untenable situation for many nonprofit organizations. Faced with increasing demand for their services, these organizations are often unable to scale their programs and services to further their missions and broaden their impact. Despite the continuous growth in the number of organizations and service providers, the sector is still unable to build capacity, acquire the necessary resources, and achieve the outcomes needed to truly provide societal benefit.

The word “partnership” is one that is readily offered up as the ideal solution to addressing the sector’s challenges. These partnerships can range from simple programmatic or service collaborations to a variety of corporate integrations and mergers. Indeed, partnerships are a crucial and important tool in scaling up impact and increasing efficiency. However, even the simplest partnerships require complex analysis, planning and a shared vision. Without the correct approach, partnerships can and will fail, leaving all parties worse off and potentially harming the very populations the organizations seek to serve. A successful partnership will create mutual benefit to the organizations, their constituencies and to society at large.

What makes a successful partnership?

Ideally, a partnership of any type requires a shared understanding among all key stakeholders. Is there a mutual benefit that can be clearly articulated? This benefit should include increased impact and reach rather than solely relying on financial efficiencies. While increased financial efficiencies can and do occur, they are not as significant as anticipated due to the emergence of new costs. These costs may be related to new systems and tools, staff training and specialization and the significant amount of time invested in the early stages of the partnership. In fact, successful partnerships may experience increased costs in the aggregate, but deliver increased services at a scale significantly higher in proportion to that cost.

Based on a shared understanding of the mutual benefits, potential partners must understand the partnership structure that best meets their needs. Will joint programming or service delivery provide the needed benefit? Will an administrative/back-office consolidation allow the organizations to focus more on their programs and services? Or is a more significant, intensive corporate integration such as a merger necessary? These questions are critical and are not to be taken lightly. Each potential partner organization must internally investigate and assess their capacity to undertake the partnership. Even for the most basic collaborations, this assessment must involve the organizations’ key leadership, board, funders and other stakeholders. Without uniform support, a successful partnership is unlikely.

Successful partnerships create a positive change in the social sector ecosystem of a community. The symbiotic and competitive forces within the community are altered, with organizations presenting a more unified approach to service delivery and ideally eliminating some competition for resources. These partnerships also align with the needs of grantmaking institutions, which are continually seeking to increase the impact of their investments. Successful partnerships have the unintended consequence of improving outcomes for organizations beyond those involved in the partnership.

While the benefits of successful partnerships are clear, the process remains complex and potentially fraught with difficulties. However, by asking and addressing the critical questions of partnership structure up front, involving all stakeholders, planning for conflict and ensuring mutual benefit, the odds for success will greatly increase. 

Ultimately, when the social sector embraces the seemingly simple concept of partnerships and understands the complexities required for success, it will truly attain the scale needed to address society’s needs while also building a sustainable future for itself.

Neville Vakharia is Assistant Professor and Research Director in Drexel University's graduate Arts Administration program.