Minnesota Council on Foundations Blog – Philanthropy Potluck

By working hard at working together, Minnesota grantmakers and nonprofits are taking aim at complex, core community needs.

In order for these partnership efforts to be successful, grantmakers believe a few key components must be present.

Brad Brown, executive director of Social Venture Partners, believes three of these components are: “First, a true collaboration requires real commitment of resources – dollars, staff, time, in-kind. We can’t just sit around the table and talk about what we want to do. Second, we need to understand what each partner can offer, and those skill sets need to be complementary. And, third, too often partnerships are people doing what they’ve always done, but in a piecemeal fashion. It’s not a real, effective collaboration until we integrate what we are all doing into a seamless whole.”

“Open communication also is essential, so partners feel they can discuss expectations,” says Marina Munoz Lyon, vice president of the Carl and Eloise Pohlad Family Foundation. “If we’re burdening an organization, asking them to do too much or do work that isn’t part of their normal portfolio or for which we’re not willing to pay, organization reps need to feel they can communicate this.”

For more grantmaker insight into the keys and barriers of successful partnering, check out the Fall issue of Giving Forum, MCF’s quarterly publication. This issue focuses on “The Power of Partnering: Grantmakers Use Collective Action to Amplify Impact.”

- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate