This tool contains ten top tips for funders stewarding and facilitating a funder collaboration.
�This guide has been developed with a range of UK-based funders based on their experiences of working in funder collaborations, and informed by research and learning about what makes for strong collaborations.
The Top Tips
Time to Complete
Stewarding
Stage
Solo
Activity
No Facilitation
2�HOURS
S
Have a dedicated ‘collaboration steward’.
3
4
Most types of funder collaborations will need someone who is responsible for stewarding, cultivating, facilitating and organising the collaboration. Agree what kind of commitment is appropriate for your collaboration, but don’t underestimate the time this role will take.
1
2
3
4
Invest in your time together.
Make sure you meet regularly and invest plenty of time in preparing for your group meetings. Engage each partner and the group as a whole about what to focus on. Don’t be afraid to ask each other to do things between meetings and hold each other accountable. Set up smaller working groups for specific tasks to maximise time spent together.
Facilitate continuous and open communication.
Have a clear communication plan in place and agree on the right channels to keep in touch and engage with each other outside of meetings.
Know your partners.
�Take the time to develop strong working relationships with each partner, learn what’s most important to each of them and what their own organisational pressures are. Work with that knowledge in mind.
Celebrate tangible examples of progress.
3
4
Keeping up momentum for the duration of your collaboration can be difficult and there will naturally be periods where energy and motivation ebb. Sharing and highlighting small but tangible wins can help keep everyone galvanised.
5
6
7
8
Bring in new voices and perspectives.
Always ask who is missing (e.g. potential partners, users, community groups), what additional experience and expertise could the group benefit from, and how can you bring in new voices and perspectives (e.g. co-design sessions, talks from subject matter experts, joint site visits).
Create a sense of shared ownership.
Be conscious of power dynamics within the group, especially in situations where different financial contributions have been made. Be explicit early on how you will address any power imbalances and create a space that enables all voices to be heard, allowing each partner in the collaboration to feel equally part of the endeavour.
Create a learning environment.
�Build in periodic opportunities to review your work and identify areas for improvement. Revisit your shared aims and goals together as often as possible to check if they are still relevant and appropriate. And don’t be afraid to challenge and surface potential points of disagreement.
Write an “orientation plan” for new partners.
Be clear and realistic about expectations so any new partners adequately understand what they are buying into. Be clear about the collaboration, how it works, and what is expected of them.
9
10
Be patient (and determined).
�Cultivating a community or group where each partner feels trust and ownership is challenging and will often take more time and effort than planned for. Give yourself (and the group) enough time to develop trusted relationships and to work through important details and questions with partners.
Additional resources
SSIR article, What Makes Funder Collaboration Effective?
The Jewish Funders Network’s Handbook for Funder Collaboration contains a useful list of ‘tips for the collaboration’s manager’ (see page 15), which helped inform our top tips.
There are many common challenges faced - from how to manage conflicts to avoiding your collaboration becoming ‘cliquey’. GrantCraft’s guide to Funder Collaboratives includes “What to do about..?” section which discusses suggestions for overcoming common challenges (see page 16).
Slack can be a great tool for communicating and collaborating across organisations. This guide shows you how to set up a shared Slack channel.
What next?