Partnerships

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you pursue partnerships:

Partnering must be mutually beneficial.

Most mission-driven organizations have limited resources — staff, time, and money — that are dedicated to achieving their own goals. In discussing a partnership with an organization, be sure to explore how working with you could help them to achieve goals they are already pursuing.

Be transparent and forthcoming.

If your distributor prohibits using the film to raise money, make sure your partner knows that. If you don’t have any money to compensate them, tell them. If your fiscal sponsor has rules about lobbying, share the specifics of the constraints you need to operate within. No one likes surprises.

Encourage them to be transparent with you as well.

If, for example, you are counting on a partner to expand your outreach, they need to have the capacity to reach the people and/or the number of people you want to reach — your key agents. If that is not their strength, they may have other ways to help that could be just as valuable to achieving your campaign’s goals.

Understand a partner’s core competencies

The things at which they excel and that might distinguish them from another group. These are the things that you want them to bring to the table; you don’t need them to be good at everything. They may, for example, have a small social media following, but the ability to get a meeting with the precise policymaker you need to reach. They may not have experience organizing events, but they have a massive network of very enthusiastic volunteers who are game for anything.:

Start small.

Test the waters by making a small ask and seeing how it goes. If it goes well — for both of you — you’ll both want to try again and aim higher.

It’s not a requirement that you have a partnership memo of understanding (MOU), but spelling things out in writing could help you to avoid misunderstandings and disappointments when you are in the midst of the impact campaign.