Creating Mutual Benefits Partnerships

Brainstorming a way forward for nonprofit and corporate relationships in San Francisco

Companies have a range of resources to offer the community, including time, space, talent, product and financial contributions. Moreover, they also have a true desire to build cross-sector relationships with nonprofits in the community.

Nonprofits often struggle with building long-term relationships with corporate partners. They especially face challenges in identifying the best possible, and effective, pathways to collaborate.

In September 2014, Taproot Foundation convened 9 companies, 10 nonprofits, and representatives from 3 San Francisco City departments to have a candid conversation about building better cross-sector partnerships to address the pressing social issues in our neighborhood.

During the convening, participants self-selected into groups of around 5-8 people. These groups further explored the nuances of the topic, shared knowledge and insights from their respective sectors, and collaboratively brainstormed new ways forward.

Cross-sector learnings

Participants discussed:

• How can we best align our resources and vision?
• How can we address the root causes of issues in our communities?
• How do we ensure that our community engagement efforts are concerted and additive, rather than duplicative?

Among other ideas, participants unanimously agreed that with a renewed focus on clarity and transparency, all participants felt that we would be better able to create atmosphere of trust, honesty and directness, which would ultimately lead to more effective cross-sector partnerships.

To find out what else came out of the discussion, read the full overview of findings report here.