Agencies expend a great deal of energy and resources in creating and managing partnerships. Most nonprofit managers can provide long lists of partnerships they have been involved in. These will range from highly successful to downright embarrassing. Yet often, managers are so caught up in the constant rush to complete the task at hand that they spend little time evaluating these initiatives or deciding whether or not their agency should engage in collaborative ventures.

Partnerships, Collaborations and Alliances Managing for Success describes the climate that has led to this sector’s extensive use of collaboration and the strengths and weaknesses of this model of service delivery. It presents a framework that managers can use to evaluate their past collaborative relationships and enhance future experiences.

This article briefly describes the three steps to successful collaboration: preparation and partnership selection, monitoring and managing; and termination and evaluation. It goes on to describe best (and worst) practices in collaborating, including a discussion on the issue of ‘turf protections’ and suggests when managers should say ‘no’ to partnerships. Three, real-life partnership experiences are reviewed and briefly evaluated using the framework.

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Sandra Woodworth has a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Dalhousie University and Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from University of Toronto. With more than 20 years of work experience in the nonprofit sector, Sandra has been involved in hundreds of partnerships, which include the good, the bad and the ugly! Currently, Sandra is the Executive Director of Contact Brant for Children’s and Developmental Services in Brantford Ontario.