10 Jul, 2024

Are You a Convener, Catalyst, Conduit, or Funder?

By |2024-07-10T12:07:40-04:00July 10th, 2024|Categories: Strategic Planning & Sustainability|Tags: , , , |0 Comments


Saying yes to a partnership signals that you’ve assessed whether your organization should have a role in a partnership, and are ready to work with other organizations to address a community need.

What role does your organization typically play in a partnership?

Do you enjoy bringing together the right partners?

Are you good at building momentum?

Do you thrive in keeping everyone in the loop?

Or are you good at securing funding?

The role your organization plays should support the partnership in being well-organized, adequately resourced, and effectively managed.

Let’s break down the four roles commonly found in a partnership:

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4 Jan, 2024

Ask Nicole: We’re Facing Pushback For Expanding Our Programs

By |2024-01-09T18:24:15-05:00January 4th, 2024|Categories: Workshop, Program, & Curriculum Design|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

Have a question you’d like to be featured? Let me know.

There comes a point in the life of an organization where it considers expanding its programs and services.

This strategic move can open up new possibilities, build and strengthen community bonds, and enhance overall effectiveness, including:

While the idea of expanding your organization’s programs can be tempting, many organizations venture into uncharted territory without being intentional about WHY and HOW they expand.

This leads to pushback from other organizations, community members, and even staff.

There’s different levels to pushback against program expansion. Here are two ways to look at it:

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13 Jul, 2023

Closest to the Problem, Closest to the Solution

By |2023-07-13T11:29:53-04:00July 13th, 2023|Categories: Strategic Planning & Sustainability|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

When you’re closest to the problem, you’re closest to the solution.

I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole of philanthropy. 

Specifically, how funders engage with and invest in communities and nonprofits. Most nonprofits have an ambivalent relationship with philanthropy. They need funding to survive, but also wished they didn’t have to depend on philanthropy to sustain their work and livelihood.

You know your community better than your funder. Yet funders often have the upper hand as they hold the purse strings. 

However, there’s a phrase that goes: “Those who are closest to the problem, are closest to the solution“. This suggests that the people most familiar with or deeply connected to a problem are usually better equipped at finding the solution.

I’ve heard this phrase before, and recently read it in Nonprofit Quarterly’s article “Why Grantmakers Need to Break Their Restriction Habit—Permanently“. The article, focusing on the unintended harm restricted grantmaking has caused to nonprofit organizations and the communities they serve, proposed a new solution:

“Restricted grants imply that funders can see more than the nonprofit about the need, the situation on the ground, the best way to respond. The funders who actually think this way are few and far between. More common are the funders who believe what I believe—that those closest to the problem are closest to the solution; that nonprofit leaders have better, real-time information to make smarter choices than I ever could; and that nearly all nonprofit leaders are creative, smart, and honest.”

“Those closest to the problem are closest to the solution” is reflective of how nonprofits can make impact over time. Here’s how you can leverage this:

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22 Mar, 2023

Should We Have a Role in This Partnership?

By |2023-03-22T19:39:02-04:00March 22nd, 2023|Categories: Strategic Planning & Sustainability|Tags: , , |0 Comments

There’s more than enough work to go around.

A habit I’ve picked up from an evaluation colleague is referring prospective clients to other colleagues who may be a better fit, even if I’m interested in the project.

I do this as I’d rather an organization choose the best person for their needs, rather than solely choosing based on referral.

I also make recommendations for other colleagues to be considered when building out a partnership or collaboration, especially if they have a specific skill set or expertise that a partnership would benefit from. For example, if I were invited to a space that’s more maternal health or birth equity focused, I’d carefully consider the partnership if a strategic planning, evaluation or research perspective is needed, and will refer to another colleagues if the partnership needs a different perspective.

Similar to choosing a consultant, there are several factors to consider when assessing if your organization should join a partnership.

And, sometimes, it’s ok to turn it down.

In a recent webinar I participated in as a panelist, an attendee shared, “I especially am taking away your point about examining whether an organization should have a role in a given partnership.”

Let’s talk about it.

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17 Aug, 2022

Let’s Build a Partnership

By |2023-03-22T19:17:12-04:00August 17th, 2022|Categories: Strategic Planning & Sustainability|Tags: , , |0 Comments


Recently, the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) published data on the 2022 pass rate for the ASWB licensing exam. The analysis concluded major disparities in pass rates for Black test takers, older adults, and other marginalized groups.

The data were published as a result of years of advocacy and pressure from the National Association of Social Workers, schools of social work, other social work organizations, and individual test takers. Previously, data on pass rates were never released.

I’ve shared my experience with preparing for the licensing exam before, and while majority of test takers pass this exam on the first try, questions about the fail rates were enough to warrant looking into this. Lack of social work licensure can result is loss of job opportunities for many social workers, so it makes sense to explore why these disparities continue to exist.

This is an example of bringing together a group of individuals who care about an issue, and work together to address it. Test takers, professors, licensing exam prep experts, exam test question writers, and more were all needed for this process.

Part of my role as a facilitator includes facilitating partnership meetings.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identifies a partnership as “organizations that share a common focus and combine resources to implement joint activities, avoid[ing] duplication of effort, ensuring synergy of resources, and enhanc[ing] overall leadership.” From my viewpoint, this also includes individuals who may not be part of an organization but hold a significant amount of knowledge, power, and connections.

Partnerships may develop in response to an emerging issue (such as disparities in test taking scores) and ideally, you’re bringing together individuals that care about the impact of this emerging issue.

A tricky aspect of building a partnership includes understanding the partnership’s purpose and selecting the appropriate individuals and organizations. Every entity mentioned in the licensing example plays a pivotal role in how students prepare for this exam and how the exam is written and administered.

Another aspect of building a partnership is understanding that, while everyone cares deeply about the issue, they have their own ideas for addressing it.

So, how do we bring together various important perspectives to reach a common goal? Here are seven questions to consider for building a partnership:

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