1. Developing Powerful
Partnerships: Making
Collaboration Work
Andy Beck, Executive Director,
School & Main Institute
2014 Nonprofit
Empowerment Summit
Giving It Our All!

2. Developing Powerful Partnerships
Nonprofit Empowerment Summit
June 3, 2014

3. Developing Powerful Partnerships

4. About School & Main Institute
• National non-profit focused on cross-sector
collaboration
• Started in 1985 as an “R &D” group in Brandeis
University’s Heller School for Social Policy &
Management
• Work with organizations (small, medium, large/local
state, federal) working together in partnerships,
collaborative efforts trying to do together what they
cannot do alone
We help organizations work across institutional lines or in
“uncommon” coalitions to improve their communities and
the lives of young people living in them.
© School & Main Institute, Inc.

5. SMI’s Partnership Efforts
FEDERAL: SharedYouthVision – partnership between Federal
Departments of Labor, Education, Health & Human Services,
Justice, Housing,Transportation, Social Security; Corporation
for National and Community Service
STATE: Cross Agency Collaboration – Massachusetts, Rhode
Island,Alabama, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Michigan,
Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Maine,
Ohio, New Jersey, Georgia, Mississippi, etc.
COMMUNITY: Local PartnershipWork - Boston, MA; Kansas
City, KS; Dothan, AL; Springfield, MA; Newport News,VA;
Tarrant County,TX; Hartford, CT; Malden, MA, etc.
© School & Main Institute, Inc.

6. PARTNER SHIPS
COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICES
SCHOOLS
CIVIC & RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS
EMPLOYERS/WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
YOUTH & FAMILIES
AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS
COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATIONS
© School & Main Institute, Inc.

7. PARTNERSHIPS
© School & Main Institute, Inc.

8. School & Main Institute:
What Experience Has Taught Us
A Few Framing Thoughts & Guiding Principles

9. Keys to Collaborative Success
New
Thinking
Mutual
Self-Interest
Vision of
Results
Foundation
Building Blocks
(Asset Map)
Collaborative
Infrastructure
Collective
Action
© School & Main Institute, Inc.

10. Let’s Take a Look at Your “Stuff”
At your table, brainstorm a list of the pilots,
programs, initiatives, projects, organizations, efforts,
etc. that have anything to do with (let’s choose an
example) helping young people succeed in your
community.
© School & Main Institute, Inc.

11. Your “Stuff”
1. How is your “Stuff” connected?
2. How are we working together?
3. Do we need more “Stuff”?
© School & Main Institute, Inc.

12. Why Work in Partnership?
• Broad-based ownership of the need and its solution
• Convening mechanism/forum for exploring common
interests and agendas
• Provides a broad view of community assets
• Cost effective delivery of certain functions/support
• Integration of efforts – avoids duplication
• Leverage
• “One stop” shopping
© School & Main Institute, Inc.

13. Partnership Fundamentals
If partnerships drive change in education, workforce,
youth, health, economic and community development:
What drives partnerships?
“Collaboration is an unnatural act between
non consenting adults.”
Former Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders

14. Self-Interest is Not a Dirty Word
1. Why is it in your and/or your organization’s
self-interest to work in partnership?
2. 12-18 months from now, what do you and/or
your organization need in order to stay engaged
in a partnership?
© School & Main Institute, Inc.

15. Self Interests (examples)
Educators
Parents
Community-Based
Organizations
Employers
 Higher graduation/retention rates
 Greater community support
 Kids not living in my basement at 27
 Greater involvement and access to
business and schools
 Increased potential for financial support
 Meet organizational goals and outcomes
 More prepared/trained workforce
 Good community citizen/PR
© School & Main Institute, Inc.

16. Self Interests (examples)
Post-Secondary
Institutions
Youth
Government
 Higher enrollment
 Connection to and credibility with the
business community
 A diploma, a job, a good life
 Increased credibility/positive perception
 More stable tax base/return on
investment
 Avoid costly problems later on
© School & Main Institute, Inc.

17. If Collaboration is Such a Good Idea…
Why is it So Hard?
Add On?
Add In?
History
and
Tradition
How?
Not
What
We Do
© School & Main Institute, Inc.

18. Organizing Partnerships to
Get the Work Done
Infrastructure—the combination of people, resources,
systems, and organizational relationships you can use to
accomplish your goals. Understand the difference between
organizational structure and partnership infrastructure.
© School & Main Institute, Inc.

19. • Ensure Creation ofVision
• MarketVision
• Recruit Critical Partners
• Assign Staff
• Ensure Resources Available
• Determine Operating Structure
• Approve Implementation Plans
or Proposed Improvements
• Clear Blocks / Barriers
• Ensure Policy Development
and Changes
• Ensure Expansion
• Access & Use Data to Design
& Implement Improvement
Strategies
• Create Implementation Plans
• Secure Needed Resources
• Become Chairs of
ImplementationTeams
• Recruit Implementers
• Orient and Supervise
ImplementationWork
•Target and Solve
Problems / Barriers
• Report to Leaders
• Advocate for Policy Changes
• Endorse Expansion
• Access Data to Design &
Implement Improvement
Strategies
• Form ImplementationTeams
• Design and Implement
Strategies
• Propose Improvements Based
on Evaluation Results
• Identify Resource Needs
• Recruit More Implementation
Team Members
• Identify Problems / Barriers
• Identify Needed Policy
Changes
• Access & Use Data to
Design and Implement
Improvement Strategies
Leadership Functions Planning Functions Implementation Functions
Infrastructure for
Powerful Partnerships
© School & Main Institute, Inc.

20. “Staff Facilitate...Partners Do”
© School & Main Institute, Inc.

21. When Staff Do and “Partners Advise”
• Not enough "ownership" of vision, results, success/failure.
• Limits the amount of systemic change that occurs -
partners not working their collaborative muscles.
• Decreases the resource base because partners who advise
are not usually sharing their resources.
• Staff teams tend to be larger/more expensive -- when
funding dries up, sustaining a large staff is difficult
• Staff are seen as the owners of the effort. If staff leadership
goes....
© School & Main Institute, Inc.

22. When Partners Do and “Staff Facilitate”
• Increases the number of leaders "owning" the work who
can ensure that this is integrated into their organization.
• Creates an atmosphere where partners plan, implement,
assess their work -- and solve problems together.
• Increases the size of results that partnerships can achieve.
• Integrates resources (human, material, and financial) into a
partnership budget and extends the resource base.
• Decreases the size of staff and actual hard dollars needed
to operate but serves more people.
© School & Main Institute, Inc.

23. Partnership Action Plans – Old & New
Strategy Activity When Who
Marketing partnership
effort
Draft one pager/mission Tomorrow Coordinator
Fill leadership gaps Call/meet with mayor, large
employers, Schools Supt,
CBO leaders
Next week Coordinator
Explore sustainable
funding short/long
term
Research opportunities/
write RFP
Three
weeks
Coordinator
Strategy Activity When Who
Marketing
partnership effort
Draft one pager/mission Next 30
days
Marketing Director
YMCA
Fill leadership gaps Call/meet with mayor, large
employers, Schools Supt,
CBO leaders
On-going Peer to Peer -
leadership across
partnership
Explore sustainable
funding short/long
term
Research opportunities/
write RFP
60-90 days Resource
Committee

24. New Thinking
Self Interests
Shared Vision of Results
Keys to Partnership Success
Collaborative
Infrastructure
We map our community assets
so we are inclusive & understand
our strengths, gaps and the
implications of each
To get results together
that we could not get
alone... “staff must
facilitate and partners
must do”
We understand this is hard work. It is not running
a program or how we are used to working
The fuel that drives and sustains
partnership work (mutual interests)
Together we have determined our
desired destination - our purpose
for working together, target
outcomes and initial priorities
Foundation
Building BlocksWe create a sustainable
infrastructure that allows
us to get the work done
collaboratively
Collective Action
© School & Main Institute, Inc.

25. So…Are we Collaborating?
Levels of Collaboration
Isolation
Communication
Coordination
Collaboration
Integration
Source: Systems of care stages of integration; based on Burt, Spellman (2007)
Agencies don’t
recognize the
need to
communicate,
no attempt to
communicate
Agencies talk
to each other,
share some
information
Staff from
different
agencies work
together on a
case-by-case
basis to
coordinate
some support
Agencies work
together on a
project-by-
project basis,
including joint
analysis,
planning
Intensive
collaboration,
agencies are
interdependent,
significant
sharing of
resources, high
level of trust

26. Your Work
Many of you are involved in partnership work. Some
big/some smaller – partnering with one or two
organizations
Pick one of the collaborative pieces of work you are involved in:
(share with a partner)
• What works about it?
• What’s hard about it?/Where do you get stuck?
• Based on our discussions so far – what could you do to be a
better partner?
© School & Main Institute, Inc.

27. Top Ten Big Lessons
1. We are “activity rich – yet systems poor.”
2. Self Interests are the fuel that “power up”
partnership work.
3. Mutual self interests sustain partnership work -
and are what will keep you at the table.
4. “Partnership is a VERB, not a noun.”
5. Can’t go it alone? Develop a “shared vision” that
takes you where you want to go.
© School & Main Institute, Inc.

28. Top Ten Big Lessons
6. Have MOU/ agreements that are more than just paper
7. Powerful partnerships” look at their resources as an
integrated resource base, with each partner's human/
material/financial resources in play
8. There is no director of collaboration or office of
coordination in any city we know.
9. Collaboration isn't about splitting up the check. It’s
about splitting up the work!
10. Have some fun. This is hard work and no one likes a
grumpy partner 
© School & Main Institute, Inc.

29. In Summary
What Makes Partnerships Powerful?
• Self-interests are clear – mutual interests drive the work
• You connect what already works
• You are serious – this is the way you work (add in)
• Your partnership is not one or two deep – that will survive
personnel/ leadership changes
• Move the parking lot into the partnership meeting room
• You hold each other accountable even when you do not
work for each other
• Staff facilitate – partners do
• You focus on results/use data, etc. - but nurture your
collaborative process that allows you to do things you could
not do alone
© School & Main Institute, Inc.

30. Questions?
Andy Beck
School & Main Institute
anbeck@schoolandmain.org
www.schoolandmain.org
617-227-2100 x111