World Bureau, Olave Centre 12c Lyndhurst Road, London NW3 5PQ, England telephone: +44 (0)20 7794 1181 facsimilie: +44 (0)20 7431 3764 email: [email protected] www.wagggs.org Registered as a Charity (No.306125) in England and Wales © WAGGGS, August 2010 A WAGGGS Global Action Theme (GAT) resource 2010 STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS How to build successful partnerships Welcome to the Strategic Partnerships resource developed by the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS). WAGGGS benefits from many international partnerships with non governmental organizations, corporations and other groups that support the work of the Girl Guiding/ Girl Scouting Movement. You can find more information about WAGGGS’ partnerships in Appendix 2 of this resource. Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting changes the lives of girls and young women through educational programmes, community leadership and advocacy work. WAGGGS and its Member Organizations provide enriching experiences for its members that stay with them for a lifetime. Girls and young women develop valuable life skills that can be used in their careers, as volunteers and at home. Forming partnerships with other organizations at a national level can help your organization to achieve its aims and improve the way you provide these experiences for girls and young women. We hope that you will find this resource helpful. We encourage you to make use of the tools and exercises provided to help you form strong and long-lasting strategic partnerships. MArGAret treloar, ChAirMAn, WOrld Board WOrld AssociAtiOn OF Girl GuideS And Girl ScoutS ACknowledGEments this resource draws upon the wealth of experience in the Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting Movement and includes many useful examples of existing partnerships. We would like to acknowledge the contributions to this resource of many volunteers and staff of WAGGGS Member Organizations. CONTENTS Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 02 How to use this resource ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 03 The seven steps for developing strategic partnerships ............................................................................................................................. 04 WAGGGS’ approach to partnerships ......................................................................................................................................................................... 05 How partnerships can help your advocacy work ........................................................................................................................................... 06 Using WAGGGS’ initiatives to make connections ........................................................................................................................................... 07 Step 1: Assessing your needs and planning a strategy ............................................................................................................................ 08 Assessing the current situation and capacity ................................................................................................................................................... 08 Tool: needs analysis exercises (SWOt, SteeP, needs Calculator) ........................................................................................................ 08 Step 2: Finding suitable partner organizations ............................................................................................................................................... 11 Choosing the right partners ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 12 What partnerships do you have? ............................................................................................................................................................................... 13 Finding potential partners .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 14 Localising global alliances and partnerships ..................................................................................................................................................... 15 Strategic partnerships to attract funds, human resources and other types of support ...................................................... 16 Strategic partnerships between Member Organizations (MOs) .......................................................................................................... 17 Tool: Values Grid and Common Ground exercise ........................................................................................................................................... 19 Step 3: Preparing to approach a potential partner ...................................................................................................................................... 20 Promoting your organization and its strengths .............................................................................................................................................. 20 Evidence of previous success ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 21 Developing a ‘Pitch project’ .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 21 Tool: how to write a ‘Pitch project’ ......................................................................................................................................................................... 22 Step 4: Approaching potential partner organizations ............................................................................................................................... 23 Making the partnership official ................................................................................................................................................................................... 24 Tool: Sample strategic partnership agreement .............................................................................................................................................. 24 Step 5: Working together .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 26 Challenges and difficulties ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 27 When to end a partnership ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 28 Relationship management ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 28 Step 6: monitoring and Evaluation (m&E) ............................................................................................................................................................ 29 Making M&e part of your project plan ................................................................................................................................................................... 29 Project Monitoring ................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 30 Evaluation ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 30 Tool: Getting started - some good evaluation questions ........................................................................................................................ 31 Tool: Questions to ask about the partnership .................................................................................................................................................. 31 Step 7: Celebrating success and future planning ........................................................................................................................................... 32 Raising media profile ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 32 How to use M&e results to provide sustainability ......................................................................................................................................... 33 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................