In Changing Times, the Status Quo is Not an Option

The underserved and hard-to-serve are getting hit even harder. Starting with the financial meltdown in 2008, donations to nonprofit organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area have declined by more than 10 percent, according to a study conducted by United Way. CEO Ann Wilson has warned that “the recession has severely compromised our community’s safety net.” Last year, the nation’s largest charities, the Chronicle of Philanthropy Top 400, saw a decline of 11 percent, greater than any in the past 20 years. The social support system is in trouble and those people it supports have nowhere to turn.

As individual, foundation and corporate philanthropy continues in a downward spiral, nonprofit organizations stand at a critical crossroads. The questions must be asked: What are nonprofits doing differently this year to address this downward spiral? Where do they go to make up that annualized 11 percent in today’s economy? The answers don’t come from asking past donors for more money. The answers must come in the realization that to weather this storm with no end in sight, nonprofits must find new approaches and new funding streams.

While sustainability is an attractive buzzword, a sustainable organization must be adaptable to its current environment and react quickly and appropriately to maintain the support levels required to fulfill its mission. If the nonprofit sector is to survive it must reinvent itself. It must move away from the outdated mores of separation from their for- profit brethren. New supportive linkages and funding opportunities are available through private sector partnerships, and nonprofits can participate without risk of losing their mission or independence. Such cross-sector partnerships draw on the individual assets of each partnering organization, creating a sum much greater than its parts.

Cause marketing programs (a subset of cross-sector partnerships), such as those of breast cancer research fund-raising activist Susan G. Komen, have proven phenomenally successful in raising awareness and raising funds. Such campaigns are “the fastest growing area of corporate marketing spend,” according to Advertising Age—more than $1.6 billion in 2010.

Why? Because studies have shown the public wants to buy products and services from organizations that support a worthy cause. Smart companies know this and nonprofits need to learn it. Nonprofits represent the “cause” in cause marketing. And here’s the irony: cause marketing works best when it involves small, local and personal campaigns.

10,000 Partnerships is a nonprofit initiative providing a unique combination of online and onsite cross-sector partnership training, focused on small and midsize nonprofit and for-profit organizations. The mission of 10,000 Partnerships is to provide a continuum of support, beginning with a “hands-on” workshop, continuing through an integrated series of online and off-line support, culminating in completed partnerships.

Autodesk recently sponsored full-day workshops presented by 10,000 Partnerships for 85 nonprofit organizations that receive funding and support from the company. Participants explored more than 25 distinct benefits that nonprofits and for-profits receive by working together, the primary one being increased contributions for nonprofits and increased business development for the for-profits. Loaned executives, pro bono services, in-kind donations, volunteer management, and many more opportunities are available for those willing to think outside of conventional wisdom.

This is new territory for the nonprofit sector. The time is past for believing we can operate as we always have, under “normal” circumstances, because “normal” doesn’t exist. Now is the time to learn new techniques and build sustainability for the nonprofit world through partnership with the for-profit world.

As one who knew a bit about survival, Charles Darwin said it best: “In the long history of humankind, those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively will prevail.”

 

Interview with Danielle Campos, Senior Vice President, Bank of America Foundation

Danielle Campos, Senior vVce President and National Philanthropy Program Manager, Bank of America Foundation

Profiles in Partnership
A series on best practices and sound advice for developing and maintaining successful partnerships between nonprofit and for-profit organizations

Dannielle Campos
Senior Vice President and National Philanthropy Program Manager
Bank of America Charitable Foundation

Part 3

BB: How do you find your nonprofit partners?

DC:It’s bottom up and top down, it goes both ways.  With the hunger relief effort that we embarked on with Feeding America we saw their national network and affiliate base. So that was a natural national partnership for us because their affiliates were existing partners at the local level, so there was that national/local connect. From a national level we’re looking at national organizations that have that capacity and network to connect with our Bank affiliates in local markets where we have a vested interest. And vice versa, our local market teams constantly surface opportunities that we want to look into investing dollars or support in some way.

BB: Many larger foundations are changing their granting approach and focusing on specific areas of interest. This trend may cut out many of the smaller organizations that received grants in the past. Are you seeing this as a trend?

DC: Yes, I’m seeing that. There is, for example, a private foundation here in California that went to a neighborhood initiative approach, looking at just 14-17 neighborhoods. I am also seeing smaller grassroots or nonprofits that were used to getting evergreen funding who are not getting it now.  There might be some impact on the short-term but probably not longer-term because it really was a time for foundations like Marin Community Foundation and others to really be strategic about the organizations that they fund.  Looking at the successful funding organizations, I do see that as a trend and it may have a negative impact on some of our smaller nonprofits who may need to look for newer funding sources or assess their mission and impact for possible strategic alliances, partnerships, and collaborative opportunities.

BB: Does this potential trend emphasize even more the need for collaborations among different nonprofit organizations?

DC: Absolutely. Nonprofits are being forced to have those discussions in this environment because again, the economic downturn has created that. Collaboration is not something new but I think people are sensing that you just can’t, or shouldn’t do it alone.

BB: What advice would you offer to for-profit organizations about developing partnerships? 

DC: When working with a nonprofit, it can’t be just about the dollars, but also about the other human resource capital you can bring if that company is interested in making, really building, a strategic partnership with a nonprofit in their community. The dialogue has to be bigger than the check, and the nonprofits usually need more than just money. Also, the for-profit organization needs to have other strong partners, leaders of the community who are working with the nonprofit, because you can learn from one another. But it’s also important that for-profits do their homework and due diligence before entering into a partnership or program. You are building a support group, you need to understand what their experiences are and focus on an area where you could have a significant impact in the community.

Up Next: Colin Lacon, CEO, Northern California Grantmakers

For more information on developing highly successful partnerships please visit: www.bruceburtch.com

Interview with Dannielle Campos, Senior Vice President, Bank of America

Dannielle Campos, Senior Vice President and National Philanthropy Program Manager Credits: Bank of America Charitable Foundation

Profiles in Partnership
A series on best practices and sound advice for developing and maintaining successful partnerships between nonprofit and for-profit organizations

Dannielle Campos, Senior Vice President and National Philanthropy Program Manager
Bank of America Charitable Foundation

Part 2

BB: Given the economic climate, do you see a sense of desperation in the nonprofit community?

DC: I think there is more sense of  cost-reduction mentality from a lot of segments, including the nonprofit community.  Funding for nonprofits has decreased in the last year and we’ve lost a lot of the big endowment and private foundation funders. So you hear those stories of, “ I might have to close my doors because I’ve lost this federal fund or this government funding.”

BB: How have you addressed this situtaion?

DC: We’ve had to be more strategic on the funding we provide to nonprofits, but I also think it was an opportunity for us to engage in more thoughtful dialogue  because we wanted to identify and work with those nonprofits that have proven impact. The discussions for us have centered around how we can help nonprofits in this economic downturn by providing resources, such as volunteers, training and teaching, and not just a check.

BB: Due to the concern and reduced funding, do you see collaborations and partnerships becoming more important?

DC: Yes. We need to talk more about creating economic empowerment, especially for low income communities.  Bank of America’s philanthropic and our CSR approach is really about building collaborations and partnerships, and driving economic growth.

Bank of America volunteers in action

BB:  What would be an example of this approach?

DC: We have a long relationship with the East Bay Community Foundation based in Oakland. Our goal was to put dollars into the communities that we serve on the local level that would be catalytic. We had discussions with them about what they were hearing and  seeing as the most serious needs in their  communities, and worked together to createthe East Bay Emergency Relief Fund to provide emergency grants to local nonprofits. This program fit our philanthropic approach to focus on capacity building, which is what this investment did with the East Bay Community Foundation. Other corporate donors also got involved to increase the Relief Fund and help maximize the dollars.

BB: Many people think of public/private partnerships as being only between a nonprofit organization and a for-profit corporation. Can you provide an example of a partnership that includes more than just these two sectors?

DC: It’s important to  partner with other corporate foundations  and not to do it alone. Most important may be strategies that help nonprofits  leverage the public sector dollar. For example, we are working with national nonprofit Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger-relief organization, and the federal government – specifically the US Dept of Agriculture – to connect more struggling families with existing assistance.  A priority focus for this effort is the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program, formerly named the Food Stamp Program. USDA data shows that every $1 invested in SNAP benefits generates $1.84 in economic activity and commerce.

BB: How does such a three-party program add leverage to your efforts and results?

DC: We’re looking at how Bank of America’s foundation  dollars can leverage federal dollars, as well as  any local and  state dollars because, again, I go back to that concept we can’t do it alone, it does have to be a public and private partnership.  So Bank of America provided a $1 million grant to Feeding America as we were not only concerned about the desperate need to support local food banks but also saw the huge economic leverage this funding would provide.

Up Next: Part 3: Need for collaboration and finding nonprofit partners

For more information on developing highly successful partnerships please visit: www.bruceburtch.com

 

Interview with Dannielle Campos, Senior Vice President, Bank of America

Dannielle Campos, Senior Vice President and National Philanthropy Program Manager Credits: Bank of America Charitable Foundation

Profiles in Partnership

Interview with Dannielle Campos
Senior Vice President and National Philanthropy Program Manager
Bank of America Charitable Foundation

Part 1

BB: How do you feel the economic climate of the past couple of years has affected your thinking concerning public/private partnerships?

DC:  The whole discussion around nonprofit/public/private sector partnerships needing to be more effective, innovative, and inclusive of corporate foundations has resonated in the last couple of years. We’ve been heavily engaged, specifically because we’ve all had to rethink, reshape and reprioritize many of our programs given the economic downturn.

BB: What would be example of this rethinking?

DC: Bank of America recognized the tremendous strain and negative impact that the downturn was having on our community nonprofit partners and those most vulnerable. One area of focus for the Bank is what we call safety net grants. We built a national portfolio around these grants which enabled nonprofit organizations to continue to deliver core health care, job training, hunger relief, childcare programs, shelter and services that were essential to keep the community operating. Philanthropic investment, coupled with the power of our associates through volunteerism and the leveraging of our collective bank resources, such as our subject matter expertise on financial management, helps keep these nonprofits that provide basic critical care services going.  They were trying to adapt to a challenging financial environment of reduced government and foundation support and rising demands.

Bank of America Volunteers in Action

BB: What would be an example of a program where Bank of America offered support that provided more than just financial support?

DC: Our Neighborhood Excellence Initiative (NEI) has a category called Neighborhood Builders, whereby two nonprofit organizations are selected annually in 45 different markets across the country. Each organization receives $200,000 over a two-year period for general operating support. Just as important as this cash, however, is we put these NEI winners, specifically the executive director of that organization and an emerging leader of the organization, through a year-long leadership training program. The training provides training on such subjects as strategic thinking, business planning in tough economic times, leadership development and succession planning, managing strategic opportunities, forging alliances, and building communities. What’s exciting to see is the alumni base that is emerging from this program, as well as being able to see the impact not only of our dollars but the bigger story of NEI’s impact on the nonprofit’s current and future leadership development.

BB: What challenges are you seeing in working with nonprofits?

DC: The challenges have become a little bit more pronounced in the last two years, because the conversations and dialogue with our nonprofit partners had to shift to address the stark realities of the economy and tangible impact.  It is more important than ever for nonprofits to be more transparent in their dialogue with us and other funders and donors, in order to instill confidence and trust. Frankly, a lot of nonprofits in the last 12-18 months have been hesitant to come and have thoughtful discussions with organizations or funders because they do not want to lose control of their mission through collaborations and partnerships. But this would help us both if we could each better understand the other’s position.

 

Interview with Jeanne Bell CEO CompassPoint Nonprofit Services Part 4

Jeanne Bell, CEO, CompassPoint Nonprofit Services Credits: CompassPoint

Profiles in Partnership
A series on best practices and sound advice for developing and maintaining successful partnerships between nonprofit and for-profit organizations

Interview with Jeanne Bell
CEO, CompassPoint Nonprofit Services

BB: An issue that keeps arising in these partnership discussions is the protection of each other’s brand. What are you seeing in this regard?

JB: I think corporations need to realize that nonprofits have a brand too.. So when we partner we need to find that common space that respects and does no harm to eachs other’s brand.

For example, let’s say you have money from BP this year and they were your corporate sponsor. I would expect them to be very sensitive to the impact of your nonprofit brand and to stay behind the scenes in your relationship. You both have brands and right now they would be a liability to your brand. It’s that sensitivity that is necessary for a strong relationship.

BB: What would you advise nonprofits?

JB: One thing I would really advise is that the nonprofits are really clear on their own brand. That they understand why they want to be in a partnership with the corporation relative to that brand. And not in a defensive, narrow way, just be clear on the assets you’re willing to share. You should articulate those things that are not negotiable. Decide up front what is on the table and what is not on the table.

If you’re going to get into a relationship with a corporation there is going to be a brand melding of some kind and that should be exciting. So I think you should be looking for corporations that you really want to share your brand with.

BB: Speaking of sharing assets, what would you recommend to nonprofits that they seek in a corporate relationship?

JB: Nonprofits should look at corporations not only for raising dollars but really to develop a continuum of resources, and that includes skill-based volunteerism. If you think about the areas where nonprofits, especially small and midsize nonprofits, tend to be weaker, it’s communications, marketing, technology—some of the things that they can’t invest easily at their size. These are assets that corporations have in abundance. So there is a lot that corporations can bring to the relationship table. This requires that nonprofits get much more skilled at absorbing this talent. Some in the field are now calling nonprofits that do this well a ‘service enterprise.’

For example, we’re doing a big project with Gap where they are designing a whole leadership program for their grantees. What they’ve done is use a lot of their own staff as trainers that they are deploying in service of the grantees, so it’s not just about money. There are always potential pitfalls, of course. For example, how does the nonprofit absorb that talent well? How do you prepare corporate folks for the nonprofit culture and so on? But I think if you want to build real relationships, talk about building relationships beyond money, talk about really sharing talent and expertise.

BB: Do you feel there’s enough information being shared about how to best develop these beneficial partnerships?

JB: This is a subject that is not discussed enough. We should be celebrating good examples of truly mutually beneficial corporate-nonprofit relationships. I do see a movement afoot to help nonprofits think about how to be in relationship with corporations and help corporations think how to be in relationship with nonprofits. I hope that will lead to more understanding and better communication, and ultimately better community outcomes. Check out http://www.reimaginingservice.org/Home.aspx for more on this movement.

End of Interview

Up Next: Bank of America

Interview with Jeanne Bell, CEO, Compass Point Nonprofit Services Part 3

Jeanne Bell, CEO, CompassPoint Nonprofit Services Credits: CompassPoint

Profiles in Partnership
A series on best practices and sound advice for developing and maintaining successful partnerships between nonprofit and for-profit organizations

Interview with Jeanne Bell
CEO, Compass Point

BB: Up to this point we’ve spoken a lot about the relationship between foundations and nonprofits, so I’d like to switch to the relationships between corporations and nonprofits. What has been your experience in these relationships?

JB: Most of our direct service clients are looking for any and all corporate money to support their programs and they need to know how to go about building these relationships. They need to understand how corporations are different from foundations and look to build solid relationships based on mutual interests.

For nonprofit organizations like CompassPoint that identify as social-equity focused, the issue of corporate partnerships can be more complex. Our board encourages me to build corporate relationships and we have all agreed that we won’t negotiate with corporate sponsors on our programming or content, which often does have a social equity component to it.

BB: You sound a bit skeptical as to the motives of corporate partnerships.

JB: I don’t think a lot of the corporate world has figured out yet how to be in meaningful partnership with nonprofits and their causes. Business drives the world economy and all of our nonprofits are trying to create economic opportunity in one way or another. All three sectors are in this together if we want healthier communities. We look for corporations that want to understand our goals just as they want us to understand theirs.

And it depends a lot if the person from the corporation has either been in or has an understanding of nonprofits, perhaps has served on a board of directors. It’s insulting to some extent when a corporation chooses a person to be in charge of nonprofit partnerships when they don’t really understand nonprofits and their business models and community roles. Worse yet, is the tendency for corporate partners to think that nonprofits are less well-managed, less concerned with their financial health, and so on than business is. It’s frustrating to be talked down to.

BB: What would you like to see?

JB: I would think that at companies like Clif Bar or Patagonia—companies for whom partnering with nonprofits is in their DNA— the person in charge of their nonprofit relationships is just as talented, powerful, and incorporated into that business as the other key corner-office people.  I’m dealing with somebody who wants to build relationship based on where our values and community goals intersect and who has real sensitivity to the nonprofit experience.

Up Next: Part 4: Protecting your brand

Interview with Jeanne Bell, CEO, CompassPoint Nonprofit Services Part 2

Jeanne Bell, CEO, CompassPoint Nonprofit Services Credits: CompassPoint

Profiles in Partnership
A series on best practices and sound advice for developing and maintaining successful partnerships between nonprofit and for-profit organizations

Interview with Jeanne Bell
CEO, CompassPoint Nonprofit Services
Part 2

BB: How do you create dialogue with organizations that have been underperforming but take the attitude: I’m going to survive by myself and not look for help or collaboration?

JB: That’s the $64,000 question. I think a lot of this is human psychology. Board members just don’t want to give up, executive directors don’t want to give up, and many unfortunately do frame it as giving up, right?

As a sector, we have to celebrate the power in strength-based collaborations and mergers.  So many of the stories about collaboration and mergers are hell stories in our sector. In fact, it’s a cliché that collaboration’s expensive, it’s an arranged marriage by funders. These clichés are too pervasive and so negative. We don’t hear enough of the good stories of people who on their own accord, not because a funder told them to, see what’s going on in their community and decide they should be partnering.

BB: So in your experience collaboration has become a dirty word.

JB: Oh, yes for many it has. You hear: It’ll cost me more to collaborate that it would to just get by because it takes so much time. People say collaboration isn’t funded. They (funders) want you to collaborate but they don’t want to fund a facilitator and the time it takes leaders to form meaningful collaborations. There is some truth in this, though more and more funders are understanding both the power and the real cost of networking leaders and organizations. A lot of times funder ask: Why don’t you guys get together, I’ve been funding you all and this neighborhood has not improved.

BB: So that begs the question: Why don’t many funders fund these collaborations?

JB: It’s super difficult and they really don’t always know how. The program officers and city government staff don’t always know any better than the executive directors how to form, fuel, and sustain a collaboration. And when people have varied commitments, uneven resources, and of course, ego, it’s very challenging. We all have had the experience of leaving a collaboration meeting and wanting to scream into a pillow.

I think one of things that would be helpful is if funders acknowledge how challenging forming collaborations can be and provide a lot of space and time for groups to figure out their common goals and their expectations of one another and the collaboration. It’s also critical that the funder be transparent about how they will be involved in the collaboration and what they truly expect from it.

BB: Sounds like this is a trust issue?

JB: It can take years to build trust, especially if there has been entrenched distrust, which is often what we’re talking about. I have learned a lot about this by participating in collaboration with 3 other intermediary groups in the South Bay. We were fortunate to have the facilitation of a community member who knew our organizations and wanted to see us in closer relationship. I think joint fundraising is a powerful things for groups to do together; while money is always a challenging topic when groups have varied business models and budget sizes, in the end it says, ‘we are in this together.”.

In the end effective collaboration really does matter; it creates deeper impact, it creates stronger organizations, but it takes a lot of time and a lot of trust-building. And usually funders are very supportive of groups who have done the work to build collaborations; it’s something they like to see and often will support.

If nonprofit leaders can figure out some ways to have some wins together, maybe down the road there could be a merger or a deeper collaboration, but first, do some real work together.

 

Up Next: Part 3: Corporate partnerships

Interview with Jeanne Bell, CEO, Compass Point Nonprofit Services

Jeanne Bell, CEO CompassPoint Nonprofit Services Credits: CompassPoint

Profiles in Partnership
A series on best practices and sound advice for developing and maintaining successful partnerships between nonprofit and for-profit organizations

Interview with Jeanne Bell
CEO, Compass Point Nonprofit Services
Part 1

CompassPoint Nonprofit Services provides training, consulting and leadership development services to community-based nonprofit organizations.

BB: What changes or trends are you seeing in grant giving from foundations?

JB: Most importantly the focus on strategic philanthropy—foundations concentrating their resources and efforts around a set of core issues they believe they can impact significantly rather than spreading lots of smaller grants around to lots of organizations. This pre-dates the recession, though a 30% reduction in assets may have solidified this approach for some, and is unlikely to go back.

BB: Can you give me an example?

JB: When the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund decided to focus on 4 core issues, this meant sunsetting many grantees who had been in the renewal mode for years. However, they did this in a very responsible way. They gave them notice well in advance and sunset grants. So this is a model for when foundations or other funders are going to change their grantingmaking strategy.

BB: What impact does this change in funding direction create with nonprofits?

JB: It’s never easy to lose funding that you have come to “count on.” But these days, I think the notion of “counting on” funding has pretty much gone by the wayside. The nonprofits we work with have experienced huge cuts in government contracts, reductions or losses of foundation and corporate sources, and even in some cases, reduced individual giving. Leaders need to track each foundation relationship very closely including really understanding how the foundation views its work and impact and how it wants to partner with nonprofits to achieve change. We can’t “count on” funding anymore.

BB: Would this situation call for more collaborations and partnerships between nonprofit organizations?

JB: I certainly hear that theme constantly and I hear it from government as well, as a lot of governmental agencies are struggling even more than philanthropy, especially here in California where our budget situation is so hopelessly broken.  There is a growing feeling among some in and out of government that government has been funding too many groups with too many overlapping or uncoordinated programs.

If organizations are high-performing, I think they’ll figure out whether they need to merge or collaborate. If organizations are really understanding their community, understanding the other players and their market, understanding shifts in client needs, etc., they’ll figure it out. To me it’s not so much do we need to shave 15% off the number of nonprofit groups, as we need those high-performing leaders to figure out how to organize and coordinate efforts beyond their organizational walls. That’s what we’re really talking about on this issue: leadership. If we stay focused on what does the community need, I think there will be ways this will all sort itself out.

Up Next: Part 2: Creating dialogue and challenges of collaboration

Interview with Bobbi Silten, Chief Foundation Officer Gap Foundation Part 4

Bobbi Silten, Chief Foundation Officer, Gap Foundation Credits: Gap Foundation

Profiles in Partnership
A series on best practices and sound advice for developing and maintaining successful partnerships between nonprofit and for-profit organizations

INTERVIEW WITH BOBBI SILTEN
Chief Foundation Officer  Gap Foundation, Part 4

BB: How do you get to the understanding of what works best in such cross-sector relationships?

BS: The analogy we use is to think about the best boss you ever had. That boss had your back, they shared your aspirations, they cleared the path for you, and gave you the resources so you could be successful. But they also had the power to show you the door and you knew that. Companies should behave like that best boss and provide the safety for nonprofits to disagree. The solutions don’t matter if they’re not important to the community. We aren’t on the front lines doing this work every day, it’s our nonprofit partners. They’re the ones who are in the communities where there’s lots of challenges. So we need to listen to them.

BB: How do you get the nonprofit to see that there are all these assets that the funder can bring to the relationship?

BS: Sometimes the understanding of your needs happens right away. You’ll sit with an Executive Director and they’ll say: We need legal help, we need volunteers, we need this or that. And then there are others who haven’t worked with companies before. In one case we had a sit-down meeting and we said:  We would be willing to partner with you, not just cash or volunteers, but other assets we could bring. And they said “thanks but no thanks”. We respected that. But later that afternoon they were doing a job training session and we just sat in and watched.  Afterwards our store folks gave feedback and said, you know we saw that this might be done differently or if you like we can do a tour of our store. All of a sudden the nonprofit started to realize, oh, okay, maybe there is a benefit to receiving other resources, not just cash.

I think when companies are coming from a good place and excited about putting all their assets on the table, but it’s a brand new relationship, you’ve got to go on your first date first.  It might be a fence painting opportunity where it’s a low investment and everyone gets to know one another. So they can see we are organized, we do what we say we’re going to do, and then you can move to the next stage.  With any type of relationship the trust builds over time and the more the organization trusts, the more they are willing to unveil places where they might need help.

BB: Building trust is a big issue in successful partnerships.

BS: At first some nonprofits don’t want to show their vulnerability and that may be exactly what they need to have you help them find what their vulnerabilities are. One of the things that touched me most about the leadership initiative was when we got the submissions for the capacity building grants, how vulnerable our partners were to this.  One organization we had just given a huge increase to told us that they are having real morale issues in their organization and they need our help.  I said to the Executive Director, thank you for being so honest. This is what our partnership is about because it said so much to me about how much you trust us and we’re going to work together to solve this.

Interview with Bobbi Silten, Chief Foundat0ion Officer, Gap Foundation Part 3

Bobbi Silten, Chief Foundation Officer, Gap Foundation Credits: Gap Foundation

Profiles in Partnership
A series on best practices and sound advice for developing and maintaining successful partnerships between nonprofit and for-profit organizations

INTERVIEW WITH BOBBI SILTEN
Chief Foundation Officer Gap Foundation

BB: What else did you discover when looking for a new approach for the Gap Inc. Leadership Initiative?

BS:  We talked to other companies and looked at other programs and eventually decided that this needed to be a multilayered program. It couldn’t just be an event where we have a workshop and then everyone feels good and then six months later, no change.  So we built a multilayered program. We start with a summit  so our nonprofits can come together, and interestingly, that was one of the things that our nonprofits asked of us.  They said if you could convene us, we would love that to share ideas.  So it’s starts with a summit that’s three days, then there is a span of time, about 9 months, where they enter into a peer networking group. We build these peer networks of about 5-6 individuals of similar size and organizational level, from the 25 nonprofits and 56 participants.  They meet about once a month and they will have a topic and peer group facilitator that’s a Gap Inc. HR employee.

We also have individual coaching.  Everyone walks out of that summit with an individual development plan, here’s my commitment of what I’m going to work on over the next several months. Last year we made coaches optional, we said if you want one you can have one and about half the group chose to have coaches.  This year we said, you know, the people who had the coaching found it really valuable so let’s have coaches for all participants.

BB: What have you found as the benefits for the Gap employees when they serve as your coaches?

BS: When you volunteer you’re more likely to do it again if you feel your contribution made a difference.. Our employees get a lot out of being in this program, not only in what they are able to give but what personally they are able to get.  And that again goes back to the virtuous cycle, they are more likely to come back if they’re feeling good about what they’re doing, when they see someone’s benefitting from their coaching.  But they are also building their own leadership skills.

BB:  In a relationship between a nonprofit and a for-profit it’s hard to avoid the funder being the big elephant in the room. How do you address this?

BS: I think underlying the whole relationship is a dynamic that will probably never go away, and that’s a power dynamic that’s based on money. There’s people who hold the cash and the people who need the cash.  So in our initial meeting with nonprofits we talk about this power dynamic of money. We say that we can never make that dynamic go away, but what we can do is endeavor to level this power dynamic as much as possible. It’s about trust, being transparent and putting the cards on the table.  It takes a while, maybe a year, for them to realize we really mean it.