Resource Library

The Foundation of Effective Partnerships

In this videoJose de Dios shares a story that reveals the true foundation of effective partnerships. Good partnerships depend on strong relationships, and strong relationships depend on trust, and trust is built through shared experience. “We needed to understand who we were as a partnership … and what it was that we were really trying to accomplish,” says de Dios, “and just sitting down to write out some kind of contract wasn’t going to do it.”

Taking Time

In this video, Lynne Ellis talks about the importance of taking the time to build relationships and better understand potential partners before simply jumping into a partnership. Too many people approach partnership from the perspective of trying to get others to “partner” with them, by which they mean getting others to support their program or project. But partnership is more than that. Partnership is working together to accomplish something beyond the capacity of any one individual.

Building Consensus from the Beginning

In this video, Prem James shares about the importance of working through and building on consensus from the very beginning of a partnership. He speaks from his own experience building consensus-oriented partnerships within the complex cultural context of South Asia and emphasizes the point that consensus is the way to create real ownership and investment from all partners.

Relationships

In this short clip, Chip Sweney – one of the catalysts of UNITE! Atlanta – talks about the “secret sauce” that powers all effective partnerships, networks, and other collaborative initiatives.

The Formation Meeting

In this video, Clyde Taber shares a story about the formation meeting of the Visual Story Network, highlighting many of the best practices in partnership development: (1) considerable time invested up-front in building relationships and exploring interest, (2) a gathering of the key people who are interested/involved in the area for the purpose of exploring collaboration, (3) a defined process with open-ended outcomes (i.e., not assuming a partnership will be formed), (4) consensus-building, (5) defining priorities, (6) organizing for action with working groups, and (7) a dedicated facilitator.