I was pleased to offer a webinar for the NonprofitWebinars series on 3/21/12, titled “Collaborating with Partners on Joint Grants: Do’s And Don’ts.” I really appreciated all of the enthusiastic participation!
If you were there, you know that we discussed:
- Reasons to collaborate
- Essentials in selecting collaborators
- How to streamline joint proposals
-
Pitfalls to avoid: showstoppers
Here are a few things participants said they took away:
- What steps to take when talking with someone else about collaborating
- The importance of intentionally planning with other organizations
- The great idea to have real clarity and agreement around shared and individual goals, self-interests, and expectations
- Checklist of things to consider before and during a partnership (you can modify it to use as a meeting agenda!)
- Suggestion to define conflict resolution strategies (before trouble starts)
- Idea to offer each partner a role in the process that they can specialize in and take ownership of
- How to manage and streamline the collaborative proposal writing process, with genuine involvement from all parties
- Tips on what to lay out on the table from the start
- Suggestion to be open and inclusive in every process, including the proposal writing
- Advice to focus on mutual recognition and reward
A few commented:
“We do often work with partners but had not thought about some of the topics mentioned today!”
“Dalya gave good examples and was able to provide insider tips from her own experiences.”
“I just want to send you a huge ‘thank you’ from southwest Florida for the terrific webinar you did this week! I don’t always get to tap into them, but this week I did. Am I ever glad the session was yours!… It was a wonderful rejuvenating ‘shot in the arm’ for me to keep holding fast to a collaborative vision. All of your material was *so* very thoughtfully and clearly prepared!”
You can watch the recording for free HERE.
Here are the free handouts I referred to during the webinar:
- HANDOUT_1_Collaborative Proposal Excerpt
- HANDOUT_2_Twenty_ Factors_Influencing_Collaboration_Success
- HANDOUT_3_Recommended Resources
