Scaling your Organisation through Partnerships Felicity Green Spark Strategy Co Founder and Strategic Advisor July 2016

What to expect The Power of Partnerships NFP – NFP Partnerships NFP – Corporate Partnerships Multi Sector Collaboration Practical Steps for Partnership Development A Journey to Scale through Partnerships Take Aways & Resources 2

The Power of Partnerships

1 + 1 = ??? 4

NFP – NFP Partnerships

Our take on NFP partnerships 6

NFP – Corporate Partnerships

Corporate - NFP partnerships 8

Multi Sector Collaboration

Collective Impact 10

Practical Steps for Partnership Development

1. Map your Ecosystem 12

2. Develop an Engagement Plan Prioritise: Consider value of relationship with time investment Develop your value proposition: Be empathic to ensure alignment of interests Determine how to access your target: Influencers first, then decision-makers 13

Nurture and monitor relationship 3. Follow a Process Research organisation and determine best contact person Follow on social media, retweet, determine interests/ pain points Conduct internal meeting to develop value proposition If there is a mutual LinkedIn contact, ask for an intro Send email with promise of follow up call Call to set up meeting Hold meetings/ workshops and formalise arrangement Nurture and monitor relationship 14

Example Journey to Scale through Partnerships

A story of success Transformational: Growth ($ and impact) Transformational: For significant resource leverage and increased reach. Systemic change Collaborative: with like-minded organisations to deliver larger projects and share knowledge Transactional: in kind arrangements for cash savings Time 16

Avoiding pitfalls

Some practical tips Strategic Operational Cultural Develop clear partnership objectives Think beyond funding Communicate effectively and appropriately Avoid custodial and possessive behaviour Develop a robust common agenda and hold each other accountable As a leader, do not let your team to speak badly of partners Take the time to assess prospective partners Keep it simple Avoid talk fests

Final thoughts Strategically, for anything outside of your core competitive advantage, it is more effective to partner off. This is the key to achieving scale. Partnership is a superior mechanism for delivering social outcomes. It impacts and innovates the business models of participating organisations. And like many strategies, its Achilles heel is execution Not all relationships are equal, the value rendered by each party doesn’t have to be Partnerships should be entered into consciously and managed They are not things in and of themselves, they are between people, so the interaction and empathy is important

fin Resources: http://info.sparkstrategy.com.au/partnerships http://info.sparkstrategy.com.au/corporate-nfp-partnerships http://info.sparkstrategy.com.au/sustainability Felicity Green Co Founder and Strategic Advisor Spark Strategy 03 8804 1731 felicity@sparkstrategy.com.au www.sparkstrategy.com.au @Spark_Felicity 20