“We know only too well that what we are doing is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. But if the drop were not there, the ocean would be missing something” – Mother Teresa.
Over the years, a generation of change leaders have been proving that which is possible to make remarkable progress against global challenges at the individual, and community levels. These leaders are focusing on solving these global problems at grand scale in partnership with governments, foundation, Non-Governmental organizations, and the larger private sector.
For years now, donors have pooled their resources to create change through foundations, governments, and the private sector. However, the scale of investment and the number of independent donor collaboration have accelerated dramatically leading to aggregated hundreds of millions of dollars towards the most promising social sector initiatives.
Given the surge, and the corresponding power that donor-driven collaborations are exerting in the sector, it’s no surprise that donor collaboration is a matter of great interest in the recent past. The growing trend of collaborative philanthropy brings donors together to build partnerships that aim to greater than the sum of their parts; through such collaborations, donors and other strategic partners find ways to work together towards attainment of great social impact.
The collaborative approach to philanthropy though still a growing trend, is enabling the sharing of best practices by the various players. As the landscape of philanthropy continues to expand and evolve, it’s becoming clear that the future of systemic change requires not only larger pools of funding but also combined willpower and expertise.
A growing number of foundations are not content to run small to medium sized programs whose benefits are limited to a few beneficiaries. Rather, they are increasingly setting out bold and ambitious goals to have meaningful impacts on the issues they care about; to shape policy, advance human knowledge, enrich cultures and/ or change behavior.
Such collaborative actions are necessary to assemble sufficient assents, expertise and influence to create such great social impact.
Some benefits of philanthropic collaboration for social impact include;
Learning opportunities for donors;
Philanthropic Collaboration offers a number of benefits over flying solo such as more money for a cause that requires large investment; cost efficiency as a result of shared strategy development and due diligence on potential grantees; access to networks and specialized skills that an individual donor may not have on staff; and the synergistic force of different sectors such as philanthropy, nonprofits, government and business-working together to make true headway on issues like education reforms.
Collaboration provides a platform for collaborating agencies to access wisdom and experience in the course of their respective program and/ or project implementation life cycle. These learning will help inform the respective partners giving strategies and practices in future engagements. Through the collaboration, donors also tap into each others’ skill sets and the expertise of their peers.
Increased impact;
The higher the funding in a project/program, the higher the impact. Through philanthropic collaboration, donors pool resources for larger gifts and a longer-term. Collaboration also frees grantees from excessive reporting duties hence allowing them ample working time in the course of their implementation.
Longer implementation terms also gives the beneficiaries the security of knowing that their visions are supported by more supported by a more substantial flow of capital, helping them grow their initiatives without the uncertainty of consistently applying for more funding.
Risk management;
Philanthropic collaboration grants access to a pool of different skills sets, knowledge and wisdom from the various players hence guarantees a wider network of advisors and other shared resources. Collaboration also mitigates on striking out as a single donor as well as duplicating efforts while a donor may still be learning about a specific sector or cause. Philanthropic collaborations are in a unique position to pool resources at scale, ensure credibility and visibility at a systems level and enable smooth multi-stakeholder collaboration.
While philanthropic collaborations are key to success, building trust takes time yet it’s essential to enable the alignment of values and empowered leadership. Clear and regulated communication facilitates effective collaboration and ensures that the partnership adapts to changes in the ecosystem and remains rooted in it’s local network.
Technology is a key enable in philanthropic collaboration. The increasing private sector application and social sector adaptation of technology and data science help enable effective collaboration across sectors and stakeholders. Technology enables and support collaborative operations, while data drives collaborative strategy formation.
For effective philanthropic collaboration, founders need to push past politeness and hammer out expectation on how their collaborations for collective action will create value-for beneficiaries, grantees, and themselves- beyond what they could do a lone.
While we are clearly aware that what we are doing is nothing more than a drop in the ocean, if the drop were not there, providing solutions to these global challenges at grand scale in partnership with governments, foundation, Non-Governmental organizations, and the larger private sector would not have been foreseeable.