Partnerships among NGOs is a great way to amplify your NGOs reach and impact. In the last years, it has become more common for NGOs to enter partnerships with peer NGOs. When Partnerships among NGOs applying for funding – sometimes this is even required by the donors. But what are the reasons for this? Why should you bother to work out a partnership when you feel like you can do the work alone? There are a couple of reasons why partnerships are worth the effort!
You can combine your experiences
Particularly when you just started working with your NGO, it might be difficult for you to get a donor’s attention because you lack experience. Many donors only want to work with NGOs that have at least a couple of years of working experience, to make sure that they are sustainable. You cannot change the fact that your NGO is new, but you can get around this requirement by partnering with another NGO that has been existing for longer and can take the lead in the application.
Partnerships enhance your reach
Small NGOs – especially at the beginning – mostly work in one or two communities. While this makes a lot of sense from their perspective, it also results in a limited number of beneficiaries. Some donors want to see a bigger reach. Partnering with other NGOs that work in neighboring communities can lead to that higher reach. Also, your great project would benefit more people at the same time with just a little bit more effort and investment.
You can combine your skills and save resources
In a partnership of two NGOs, all partners will most likely have different areas of expertise and skills. When applying for funds, it is a great asset when you have different experts for the different focus areas of your proposal. Combining the knowledge and skillsets of the experts of the partner organizations makes your proposal much stronger.
Furthermore, you can save specific resources by sharing them. When working alone, every NGO would need i.e. a project manager, accountant, or field worker. When working in a partnership, some of these tasks can be shared. In this way, resources are used much more effectively.
There are some tips on how a successful partnership between NGOs should be set up. Stay tuned for our article about this tomorrow.
