Donors receive numerous partnership proposals with non-profit organizations.

However, your selection criteria for a partnership on any project depends on four main elements explained below.

1.Visibility

When determining the appropriate partner for a partnership on any project, foundations look to available organizations from various sources. To ensure that your nonprofit is visible, an effort should be made to locate the organization in these strategic locations. It starts from government registration offices for non-profit organizations. The registration of a nonprofit organization with various government authorities must reflect the intentions of the organization. For example, a foundation seeking to work with a state-level organization will begin by checking specific state records rather than first checking federal or local government records. Other efforts to make an organization visible to foundations include listing on various different stakeholder directories and various online and offline manifestos and databases. It is also important for an organization to publicize its activities using the various media in an appropriate manner.

2. Positioning

There are numerous non-profit organizations that provide services or claim to provide services in different areas. In an industry that is almost crowded, it is important to present your organization’s brand and strategy in a unique way, different from what others do. A unique approach to delivering solutions and services is what donors and other development partners look to before joining a project. The organization’s position statement is key to providing an explanation of how the organization is different from others in the same field.

3. Capacity

Before responding to an organization’s proposals, a foundation is likely to research the capabilities of the proposing organization on several fronts. The first is human resource capacity in terms of the existing skills, competencies, and professional experience of the organization’s leadership and staff. Another front where capacity is investigated is the social capacity available and the social capacity required for the implementation of a particular project. This includes establishing the scope of the local network that the organization has and the number of staff. Investigating an organization’s capacity is critical to any foundation seeking to develop a partnership with the organization because it highlights the organization’s ability to use funds efficiently and, most importantly, meet projected goals and objectives. using prudent management practices.

4. Culture and values

This is a critical component of any organization that donors use as one of the considerations before selecting their partners. It is interesting to note here that not all development partners have to agree with their partners’ values ​​and therefore sometimes partners agree to work together while acknowledging acceptance of differences. However, there has to be shared values ​​and understanding in how to work with “can do” values ​​for a successful partnership. This is fostered by the mutual respect and enthusiasm exhibited by development partners without reinforcing status barriers. With this mentioned, the communication cycle is an important consideration with searching for fundamentals.