Tesse Akpeki offers some advice on how to move beyond an us-and-them approach towards genuine shared outcomes.

It is refreshing to observe the grantmaking strategy of the independent John Ellerman Foundation as it explores opportunities for collaboration, partnership working, understanding organisations and people working in the same area.  

The Foundation supports charities that make a practical difference to people, and society. The trustees of John Ellerman, aware of the tough external environment, look at how the Foundation relates to other foundations and how it can remain responsive, flexible and focused. A significant part of the strategy is harnessing the power of volunteers and enhancing their engagement and contribution. The decision to review the Foundation’s application process following a trustee awayday last year indicates the importance of taking time out for evaluation and reflection.  

Strategic networking

Strategic networking focuses on ways relating to others,  doing things differently, learning how to expand the ability to communicate in more compassionate, self-responsible and empathetic styles aimed at fostering mutual understanding and building common ground across differences. Jane Wei–Skillern of Stanford Graduate School of Business in her article Achieving mission impact through strategic networking highlights four key success factors in building strategic networks and developing effective collaborations.  These are:

• Mission before organisation – putting their missions rather than their organisations at the centre of their operations as they work hard for a shared vision of the network.
• Trust not control – sharing the same values, trust governs the network with formal contracts used to define roles and responsibilities rather than to enforce rules,  partners commit time and resources at the outset and assess whether there is sufficient common ground on which to build a network.  They then invest in strengthening the shared values and monitoring adherence to them.
• Humility before brand-building – casting their gazes externally rather than internally
• Node not hub - nodes within a constellation of equal, interconnected partners, rather than as hubs at the centre of their non-profit universes  

This approach fits into the  model  of collective impact -  a form of collaboration that shares five conditions: a common agenda, shared measurement systems, mutual reinforcing activities, continuous communication and the presence of  backbone support.

The bridges built in these collaborative approaches deal with frustration, anger, conflict and inspire people to look at the reality and complexity of the problems and challenges identified and addressed in formal and informal ways. All participants in these collaborations share a vision for change with a common understanding of these ‘wicked’ problems,  and adopting a joint approach to solving them. As no single organisation can claim the achievements of the network,  some funders may rethink their accountability systems and the timelines required for achieving network-level impacts.

Successful collaborations depend on egos taking a back seat,  replaced by mindsets that equip individuals, groups and organisations to forge ahead in our fast-moving and sometimes challenging world.