Partnership

As we all know from experience, partnerships can empower or encumber. We’ve all had those moments articulated by the King in The King and I:

“Is a puzzlement…
…Shall I join with other nations in alliance?
If allies are weak, am I not best alone?
If allies are strong with power to protect me
Might they not protect me out of all I own?”

Strategic partnerships need to be carefully designed. We help mission-driven organizations, nonprofit and commercial, assess the value of potential partnerships using our Partnership Scorecard™. Using intuition alongside objective measurement, the scorecard allows clients to measure whether a potential partnership meets the test of our core partnering principle: If two organizations can accomplish more by working together than they are already doing alone, then they should consider a partnership.

The scorecard captures and generates a numeric rating of the following elements:

• Mission
• Vision
• Values
• Leadership
• Culture
• Goals and strategy
• Finance
• Audiences
• Products/Services
• Brand
• Strengths
• Weaknesses

In the business world, short-term financial considerations can drive partnerships that then flounder due to cultural mismatch. For nonprofits with a focus on mission, partnerships can drain scarce resources and distract organizations. We bring a disciplined and balanced focus to the partnership process to help organizations seize opportunities and manage risks.