Frequently Asked Questions

"My group is thinking about working in partnership but it’s a big topic, where do we start?"

• Be clear what you want to achieve
• Do some background reading – links and resources are being developed on this website
• Think who else offers what you do, or are involved with your client group
• How could you add value to what they do, or how could they add value to what you do?
• Potential partners are often stakeholders – consider holding a stakeholder day
• Involve someone independent to advise: a Development Worker in a Support Organisation, or contact this project as a first step

"What are the benefits of working in partnership?"

• More or better services to beneficiaries
• Increase efficiency through better use of resources
• Access funding not available to individual groups
• Reduce duplication of services/ meet funders' expectations
• Stronger united voice
• Spread the risk in new projects
• Become more resilient – increase prospect of survival

 

"I've heard it doesn't always work - what are the main pitfalls?”

• Outcomes don’t justify the time and resources invested
• One or more partners don’t fulfill their commitments – be realistic at the outset
• ‘Mission drift’ – particularly a risk when driven by funding
• Cultural mismatch between organisations… and personality conflicts
• Harm to organisation (& reputation) if it doesn’t work out

"Do I need to have a formal partnership agreement in place? How is that different to ‘merger’?"

• There is no agreed single definition of “partnership” – it is used interchangeably with the term collaboration to describe joint working between two or more organisations
• Written agreement is good practice, except very temporary/ informal joint working arrangements
• Useful to give structure and clarity to collaboration - defines roles and accountability
• Merger is when a new charity or company is formed, and/ or one ceases to exist
• Mergers can be a way to ensure the continuity of a defunct organisation for the sake of its beneficiaries
• Apart from rescue/ survival situations, successful mergers generally have previous experience of collaboration: but increased collaboration does NOT automatically lead towards merger

Collaborative working can be formalised by a simple memorandum of agreement. Full mergers will involve Companies House or Charity Commission supervision. In between, there are many different partnership models appropriate to different circumstances.