"Secure the Bag":Collaborations

Presenters

Disciplines

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Abstract (300 words maximum)

Government funding has been declining since the beginning of the 2008 economic downturn (Mintz, 2015). Nonprofit organizations have experienced cuts to core programs but were offered money for other initiatives less central to their mission. In response to this decline in government funding and resource scarcity nonprofit collaborations have increased. “In the nonprofit world, increased demand for services often means an increase in costs (to provide those services) with no associated change in revenue. This scenario leaves an organization scrambling for funding to keep up with demand” (Paik, 2012). In 2015, the BridgeSpan Group and the Patterson Foundation revealed that 91 percent of nonprofits engage in collaboration based on their surveys of 237 nonprofit CEO’s and 101 foundation officers in 2014 (Neuhoff, 2014). There are many perspectives on defining what collaboration is. However, they all share the concept of a relationship between two entities that communicate, share information, and work together to reach an organizational goal, benefit the organization and satisfy the needs of the population they serve. In the nonprofit industry there are different types of collaboration. Most nonprofits are collaborating on an intersectoral level. This means that they are collaborating with other organizations that are either public, for-profit, or other nonprofits. Seeking collaborations with organizations in other sectors opens the door for more resources. The most common theory behind this increase in collaborations is resource dependency. Resource dependency was built on the notion that organizations’ survival depends on their ability to acquire critical resources from the external environment (Pfeffer & Salancik, 1978).

Considering the intersectoral collaboration trend, The Center Helping Obesity in Children (C.H.O.I.C.E.S.), a 501 (c) (3) agency, is seeking to continue intersectoral collaborations, so they can continue to accomplish their mission of fighting childhood obesity. The organizations accomplish their mission by collaborating with other organizations and individuals that can offer healthy cooking, nutrition, and physical activity education. To create a more responsive system of governance C.H.O.I.C.E.S. is seeking to implement a standard operating procedure (SOP) for collaboration that all staff can follow when encountering potential collaborative opportunities. The collaboration SOP will include the following sections: an overview of what collaborations are, the type of collaborations the organization is seeking, an hierarchy of collaboration responsibility, a step by step procedure for securing collaborations, a community outreach coordinator job description, procedure on how to terminate a collaboration, and a community outreach directory that the community outreach coordinator or program director can use to stay connected to other agencies and resources in the community. Implementing an SOP for collaboration can educate new and current staff and help C.H.O.I.C.E.S. to continue securing effective and efficient collaborations.

Academic department under which the project should be listed

WCHHS - Social Work and Human Services

Primary Investigator (PI) Name

Dr. Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez

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"Secure the Bag":Collaborations

Government funding has been declining since the beginning of the 2008 economic downturn (Mintz, 2015). Nonprofit organizations have experienced cuts to core programs but were offered money for other initiatives less central to their mission. In response to this decline in government funding and resource scarcity nonprofit collaborations have increased. “In the nonprofit world, increased demand for services often means an increase in costs (to provide those services) with no associated change in revenue. This scenario leaves an organization scrambling for funding to keep up with demand” (Paik, 2012). In 2015, the BridgeSpan Group and the Patterson Foundation revealed that 91 percent of nonprofits engage in collaboration based on their surveys of 237 nonprofit CEO’s and 101 foundation officers in 2014 (Neuhoff, 2014). There are many perspectives on defining what collaboration is. However, they all share the concept of a relationship between two entities that communicate, share information, and work together to reach an organizational goal, benefit the organization and satisfy the needs of the population they serve. In the nonprofit industry there are different types of collaboration. Most nonprofits are collaborating on an intersectoral level. This means that they are collaborating with other organizations that are either public, for-profit, or other nonprofits. Seeking collaborations with organizations in other sectors opens the door for more resources. The most common theory behind this increase in collaborations is resource dependency. Resource dependency was built on the notion that organizations’ survival depends on their ability to acquire critical resources from the external environment (Pfeffer & Salancik, 1978).

Considering the intersectoral collaboration trend, The Center Helping Obesity in Children (C.H.O.I.C.E.S.), a 501 (c) (3) agency, is seeking to continue intersectoral collaborations, so they can continue to accomplish their mission of fighting childhood obesity. The organizations accomplish their mission by collaborating with other organizations and individuals that can offer healthy cooking, nutrition, and physical activity education. To create a more responsive system of governance C.H.O.I.C.E.S. is seeking to implement a standard operating procedure (SOP) for collaboration that all staff can follow when encountering potential collaborative opportunities. The collaboration SOP will include the following sections: an overview of what collaborations are, the type of collaborations the organization is seeking, an hierarchy of collaboration responsibility, a step by step procedure for securing collaborations, a community outreach coordinator job description, procedure on how to terminate a collaboration, and a community outreach directory that the community outreach coordinator or program director can use to stay connected to other agencies and resources in the community. Implementing an SOP for collaboration can educate new and current staff and help C.H.O.I.C.E.S. to continue securing effective and efficient collaborations.