When Y’s work together everyone wins. Collaborations are the spirit and intent of coming together to combine resources (personnel, image, brand, financial resources) to enhance and/or expand programmatic and administrative resources to build capacity and elevate impact in your communities. Keep these 10 key messages in mind on your next (or current!) collaborations:
1. Leadership…both volunteers and Y leadership staff, must embrace collaboration as a business strategy for it to be successful.
2. Embrace change in order to think differently, to act differently and to generate different results.
3. As a cause driven leader, build a new relationship – by introducing yourself to the board and staff at a neighboring YMCA, offering your assistance, helping each other be successful.
4. Leverage your assets to do more, to create more impact and capitalize on the human assets of our work.
5. Choose your collaboration versus having it dictated by an outside force (bank, other vender, etc.).
6. Trust is the foundation of collaboration and without it the collaboration is sure to fail.
7. Overcome fears and barriers by accepting ambiguity and differences.
8. Win/win can be achieved, but the wins are rarely equal. Success is measured by impact, not equality.
9. Respect the pace of others. Push your own pace.
10. We each have a bright spot that can be the catalyst of collaboration for another organization that is seeking your bright spot.