subject: Who is Your Partner? [print this page] Who is Your Partner? Who is Your Partner?
There are some exciting examples of how this has worked for large national and international businesses and nonprofits. How do you scale it down to your organization?
The short answer: you don't, just do what the big guys are doing.
Their process is simple. There are a few easy questions to ask. Who needs what you are doing (Why is your mission important to the community?)? Who would benefit from having access to your students, families, alumni, or donors? What can your partner offer your students, families, alumni, or donors? When you answer those questions, ignore money and product sales or advertising. The questions are easy to ask but sometimes hard to answer.
Let us look at two examples from non-schools. Non-schools were chosen because you need to find your own example that fits with your mission, your culture, and your identity. Using someone else's answer is the fast path to a solution but it is unlikely to be a durable solution.
Imagine a nonprofit committed to the ecology. They decide to clean up a river. As part of their investigation, they discover that a food-processing plant takes water from the river, cleans the water, and uses the water in the packaging and preparation process. The food processor immediately sees the benefit of sponsoring the clean up.
The nonprofit's mission serves the ecology but it also serves the needs of a local business. The size, international presence, or other factors are unimportant. Need always trumps bureaucracy. If it appears that bureaucracy has trumped need, it is because the bureaucracy is unable to understand the benefits (need).
Imagine a different ecology group that emphasizes sustainable small-scale farming in the third world. One of their constituents is a group of limited production (shade grown, special varieties) coffee growers. The growers have two choices either scale up their operations (cut down trees) to become competitive or find a market for their specialty products. The mission serving answer is to find a buyer for the specialty coffee. The buyer receives a unique product that is "green", the farmers have a sustainable business model, and the mission of preserving the ecology is served. Everyone wins.
Next Step:
Profile the potential partners who need or want what your mission does or can do for them and whose business practices fit with your school's culture, traditions, and values
Outline the parameters for a sustainable business model and define the limitations for both sides
Determine how to try out the partnership on a limited scale to ensure it will meet everyone's expectations
Discuss it with the families, donors, and referral sources as well as the board
Do it
This process creates a sustainable relationship because its foundation is mutual benefit. In addition, because it is benefit based, the funding is value driven rather than budget defined. The benefit based funding is more predictable and less vulnerable to economic changes.
In many cases, you are using a similar process with most of your donors. The difference is that most donors give because of your emotional appeal rather than the direct value they receive.
Because of the direct benefit "partner" is a better way to describe the relationship. It may still be a donation for tax purposes. The partner feels like it is a value-driven gift. Everyone (students, families, the school, mission, and partner) benefits. It is easy for the partner to explain to the stockholders also.
Because your success is important to your partner, you will find your partner willing to make suggestions that increase your sustainability and effectiveness.
It is also scalable. It is easy to add partners. Be careful to avoid diluting the value for the existing partners.
Yes, there are many examples of schools doing this.
You can do it and the world will benefit from the expansion of your mission.
Don and his partners started Mission Enablerswww.missionenablers.com in 2001 to help nonprofits increase their capacity to serve those in need. Mission Enablers is one of several successful businesses that Don has started. He has also served on a variety of for profit and nonprofit boards. His primary focus today is helping schools (private, parochial, Christian, and faith-based schools) increase enrollment, develop strong leadership teams, improve their governance, and increase their fundraising effectiveness. When away from the office he enjoys spending time with his daughters' families, grandchildren, and working in his gardens or cooking.
