BlogHer - The Collaboration Prize: $250,000 for Nonprofits That Collaborate, Not Compete - Comments

Good points

Britt Bravo — Mon, 19 May 2008 12:55:15 -0500

Hi Candelaria,

Thanks for sharing your insights about the pros and cons of nonprofits' collaborating. Perhaps an alternative solution is not that more existing nonprofits should merge, but that people who have ideas for new ones should see if they can collaborate with old ones before they start a whole new organization.

Collaboration works and costs

Candelaria Silva — Fri, 16 May 2008 17:04:38 -0500

Two non-profits that do arts-related work in Boston have voted to merge. There will not be an immediate cost savings although tehre will eventually. They have collaborated on projects for years and while their work is complimentary, it is not the same. Having worked with the EDs of both organizations, the sad truth is that oen of the will be out of a job after the transition period and so will another staff member or two. (They are tiny.) That is the aspect of merging that is not so nice.

As for collaboration, I think that collaboration is key for organizations to do effective work especially when they have budgets that don't really cover the tremendous work they do - a situation that many non-profits are in. That said, for collaborations to work there usually has to be a "lead" collaborator. definied, one that will make sure that deadlines are met, follow-up is completed, etc.

Foundations are certainly encouraging more non-profits to co-locate, collaborate, and even merge. In a free society, one can get an idea for a program and create one's own organization. I don't think that's unhealthy. I regret that as a society we spend so much more on war than we do on forces for positive change in the world.

Candelaria - Good and plenty!

The Collaboration Prize: $250,000 for Nonprofits That Collaborate, Not Compete

Britt Bravo — Fri, 16 May 2008 16:46:28 -0500

According to Nonprofitist.org's post, How Many International Nonprofits Can You Count? there are 1.4 million nonprofits in the United States. Charity Governance reports that, "For the period from October 1, 2006 through September 30, 2007 (fiscal year 2007), the IRS received 85,771 applications for recognition of Section 501(c)(3) status."

That's a lot of nonprofits, many that are doing similar work and competing for funding from foundations and individual donors.

To celebrate, and learn about best practices in nonprofit collaborations, the Lodestar Foundation has launched a $250,000 Collaboration Prize:

"The Collaboration Prize recognizes collaborations among two or more nonprofit organizations that each would otherwise provide the same or similar programs or services and compete for clients, financial resources and staff. The Prize also seeks to build an information base of effective practice models that can be studied and used by academics, nonprofit leaders and grantmakers to inspire and advance their work."

To be eligible to apply, the collaboration must:

"Involve two or more nonprofit organizations that each would otherwise provide the same or similar programs or services and compete for clients, financial resources and staff.

Have a structure that is evidenced by a formal agreement that uses the resources of each party in a more effective way; this agreement could be a memorandum of understanding (MOU), a letter of agreement, a contract, or a merger agreement.

Have begun operation at least 18 months prior to nomination and must have been in existence no longer than eight years prior to the date of nomination."

The nomination process begins June 1, 2008 and closes July 21, 2008.

I hope that one of the results of this award will be a guide and training to help other nonprofits to pool their collective knowledge, skills and resources in successful collaborations.

As the Everyday Giving Blog points out, the authors of Forces for Good, Leslie R. Crutchfield and Heather McLeod Grant, found that "One of the six practices of high-impact nonprofit organizations is collaboration with other nonprofits."

Why don't more nonprofits collaborate?

Logo from The Collaboration Prize web site.

BlogHer Contributing Editor, Britt Bravo, also blogs at Have Fun * Do Good, and NetSquared