Network Collaborations:
Playing Well With Others

We at Hershey|Cause are big on collaboration, and we bet you are too. Ideally, when organizations bring together their institutional knowledge, resources and energies, they can save time and money, and end up with superior results.

Collaborations – or, if you are dealing with multiple organizations, collaboratives – can be tricky, but the fundamentals are the same.

• What is your shared purpose?
• What are your shared values?
• What individual interests are you willing to compromise for the sake of the collaborative’s goal?
• What responsibility is your organization willing to take to get the job done?

All are questions that collaborations need to tackle to be sustainable.

Nonprofit Communications Collaboration – Survey Findings Brief (PDF)
We were curious about how much collaboration was actually happening and with whom, so we included several questions in our national survey of nonprofits in 2008. Our research found:

• 88% of organizations say they value collaborating.
• 76% collaborate with other nonprofits at least several times a year.
• Organizations that collaborate are more likely to have taken the time to create strategic plans.

We have created tools to help these groups keep their internal communications healthy so that they can have a more powerful voice in their outreach efforts.

Network Health Scorecard (PDF)
How is your network is doing? Answering a quick series of questions can yield a useful assessment of the health of your network - diagnosing strengths and areas for growth. With just 22 questions and a 1-5 scoring system, the Scorecard focuses on key aspects of any network: purpose, performance, operations, and capacity. Regular check ups can help you track progress and decide what the network needs next. Designed for group use--network members answer each question and then discuss their answers. Developed in partnership with Center for Network Impact.

Online Collaboration Tools Matrix (PDF)
An easy-reference sheet for groups that want to connect virtually but are not sure of the appropriate technology tool. Demystifying and de-coding some of the "high-tech" terms, we take a high-level look at the strengths and weakness of the collaboration tools we hear about daily – such as wikis, blogs, social media and Web conferences. Developed in partnership with Idealware.org.