How working with other organizations can support your mission and expand the impact in your communities

This is the first article in our NFP collaboration series.
The world has changed. And our communities have changed. Can you reinvent what you do? Continue to acquire adequate funding to carry out your mission with rising costs? Are you meeting new community demands? Are you thinking you might have to close your doors without big inflows of new dollars? Is it time to dissolve or combine?

Perhaps some of these questions are going through your mind as you develop or refine your strategy for the coming year or revisit your purpose to change with the times. You’re not alone. Many not-for-profits (NFPs) are looking for new ways to remain relevant and sustainable, and meet the changing demands being placed on their organization. This cannot always be done alone. There are options and considerations beyond cutting back on programs or closing your doors.

Many innovative alternatives exist today for organizations looking to grow their current programs, expand into new services or find new funding options. Collaboration between organizations could be just the answer you need to thrive in this new world and it can take many forms. From mergers and joint ventures to cooperative activities, alliances and shared services, NFPs are finding creative ways to build and maintain their vital role in their communities.

Some recent examples of collaboration among NFPs include:

• A healthcare organization signed a memorandum of understanding with another organization in the community to share administrative staff (billing, CFO and providers). They are also collaborating on how to expand their reach into the communities they serve and jointly approach state grant opportunities knowing they may accomplish more together than individually.
• A national NFP youth organization was feeling the strain of duplication of services and delivery of programming across multiple local organizations. The national NFP performed a study to determine whether it made sense to consider combining various local entities into larger state-wide or regional chapters. By expanding the size of the organizations serving youth within the various states, they were able to increase programming availability, eliminate duplicative administrative services and strengthen the future financial viability of the organization.
• An NFP social service organization formed a partnership with a competitor to bring a new service to individuals in their community. While the long-term sustainability of the program is currently unknown, the collaboration allowed the organizations to pursue state grant funding to launch the program and serve additional individuals.