October 13, 2005 | Read Time: 1 minute
Forming Alliances: Working Together to Achieve Mutual Goals
by Linda Hoskins and Emil Angelica
Charities have plenty of good reasons to collaborate with other organizations, write the authors of this book. Linda Hoskins and Emil Angelica, both of the Community Consulting Group, in Minneapolis, say that alliances can help nonprofit groups strengthen their services, attract untapped sources of revenue, and reduce the duplication of programs, among other goals.
Alliances, they say, offer the opportunity for groups to work together to accomplish short- or long-term objectives without actually merging into a single organization. Their book provides guidelines for forming alliances, including clarifying the reason behind the partnership, recruiting organizations that are good potential collaborators, and meeting the goals of an alliance.
Despite their benefits, alliances are rarely free of problems, say Ms. Hoskins and Mr. Angelica. In the book’s third and final section, they describe common pitfalls: Partners lose enthusiasm or fail to adapt to new circumstances, or alliances are either too rigid or too informal to accomplish their goals.
The book concludes with a set of worksheets to help nonprofit leaders determine whether their organization needs a partner and how to take the steps necessary to form a partnership.
Publisher: Fieldstone Alliance, 60 Plato Boulevard East, Suite 150, St. Paul, Minn. 55107; (800) 274-6024; http://www.fieldstonealliance.org; 96 pages; $29.95; ISBN 0-940069-46-6.
