March 25, 1999 | Read Time: 1 minute
Strategic Alliances for Nonprofit Organizations
By Charles E. Bartling
Charles Bartling, a consultant who specializes in association management, outlines the rewards and risks of forming a partnership with a business or another association.
More staff members, access to better technology, and speedier decision making are the main benefits of an alliance between a non-profit association and an outside organization, he writes.
The book is intended mainly for association executives. Mr. Bartling’s definition of “strategic alliance” is not “merger.” He stresses that while organizations should combine their strengths, they must retain their respective autonomy.
He covers areas that might benefit from alliances, such as conferences, educational programs, special events, and publications, and he provides examples of partnerships where both sides gained. For example, two associations representing the concrete industry both agreed to hold a joint exposition, and saw their booth-space sales double within three years.
After providing a seven-step plan for structuring a “strategic alliance,” Mr. Bartling gives a cautionary analysis of perhaps the biggest fiasco involving a non-profit-for-profit alliance: the American Medical Association’s 1997 marketing agreement with Sunbeam Corporation. That deal resulted in a $9.9-million settlement from the A.M.A. over a breach-of-contract lawsuit, which Sunbeam filed when the association backed out of the heavily criticized agreement.
Appendixes include a sample memo for pitching an alliance to the board of directors, a checklist to affirm that the association is choosing an appropriate partner, and guidelines on corporate tie-ins from the American Diabetes Association.
Publisher: American Society of Association Executives, 1575 I Street, N.W., Washington 20005; (202) 626-2723; fax (202) 408-9634; e-mail books@asae.asaenet.org; World-Wide Web http://www.asaenet.org; 93 pages; $24.95 for A.S.A.E. members, $29.95 for non-members; I.S.B.N. 0-88034-143-2.
