Topic 10 of 15 · Networks and partnerships
Nonprofit partnerships, networks and collaboration
Free nonprofit partnership, collaboration and network guides for nonprofits, NGOs and coalitions.
- 12 resources
- 11 free
- 3 tools and templates
- 3 sub-topics
Few nonprofits change much on their own. The work that sticks usually comes from coalitions, networks and partnerships where power and credit are shared fairly.
This shelf helps you build and evaluate networks, set up partnerships that work for both sides, shift towards locally led ways of working, and organise people around a cause.
You need this shelf if
- You're joining or starting a coalition or network
- Your partnerships feel more like subcontracting than collaboration
- You're an international NGO working on localisation
- You want to organise volunteers or a movement, as well as delivering services
Key questions for leaders
- Which partnerships really help your mission, and which just take time? The Partnering Toolbook →
- Who holds the money and the decisions in your partnerships, and is that fair? Becoming locally led as an anti-racist practice →
- Would your network work better with a clear purpose, roles and a coordinator? Net Gains →
- If you're an international NGO, what are you handing over to local partners, and when? Localisation Performance Measurement Framework (LPMF) →
- Are you organising people to act together, or only delivering services to them? Guide to Organizing from the Leading Change Network →
What's on the shelf
10.1 Networks and coalitions
- 10.1C131
Net Gains
A handbook by Peter Plastrik and Madeleine Taylor for people who build and run networks for social change. It covers how such networks form, grow and are managed, and it shares lessons on using networks to reach large-scale impact. Network coordinators, members and funders use it to plan a network's design, growth and coordination, and to compare their own experience with others.
Start hereClassicKey manual or guideFree - 10.1C129
The State of Network Evaluation
A framing paper for funders, network leaders and evaluators who want to assess networks for social change. It explains why networks matter, what makes them distinct, which parts of a network can be evaluated, and which designs, questions and methods fit. It closes on challenges for the field. A companion casebook from Network Impact, Evaluating Networks for Social Change, describes real funder-led network evaluations and their results.
ClassicKey manual or guideFree - 10.1C130
Catalyzing Networks for Social Change
A guide for grantmakers who want to work with a network mindset. It describes 5 network approaches: weave social ties, access diverse perspectives, build and share knowledge openly, create infrastructure for wide engagement, and coordinate resources and action. Later sections cover how foundations can cultivate networks, the roles they can play, a tool on traits of a healthy network, and how to assess network impact. It ends with resources and a glossary.
ClassicKey manual or guideFree - 10.1C132
Centering Equity in Collective Impact
An article from the Winter 2022 issue of Stanford Social Innovation Review in which the authors of the collective impact approach revisit it with equity at the centre. It sets out 5 strategies: use local data and context to aim solutions, pursue systems change alongside programmes, share power within the collaborative, listen to and act with the community, and build equity-focused leadership and accountability. Coalitions and funders use it to review their own collective impact work.
CurrentShort readFree with sign-up - 10.1C133
Impact Networks
A 216-page book by David Ehrlichman for people who start, lead or fund networks of organisations working on complex problems. It covers how to build connection and trust among members, coordinate action, share governance and support self-organisation. The linked page is an excerpt on self-organisation published by Stanford Social Innovation Review. Network leaders use the book as a practical reference for running a network.
CurrentKey manual or guideBook - 10.1C134
User Guide: Network Mapping
A short user guide to network mapping, also called social network analysis, for nonprofits and funders. It explains how to measure and map the relationships between people or organisations in a network, usually shown as a map of entities and their links. It shows how positions and groupings in the map reveal the roles members play and how information moves between them. Teams use it to plan a first mapping exercise.
CurrentTool or templateFree
10.2 Partnerships and localisation
- 10.2C135
The Partnering Toolbook
A short guide by Ros Tennyson of The Partnering Initiative to the main elements of effective multi-stakeholder partnering. It walks through the partnering cycle, with tools and frameworks for scoping, building, managing and reviewing partnerships between NGOs, business, government and donors. Many organisations have adopted its tools. It is translated into 13 languages, and free PDFs are available in English and French.
Start hereClassicTool or templateFree - 10.2C136
Becoming locally led as an anti-racist practice
A guide from Bond, developed by The Social Investment Consultancy, for UK-based and other international NGOs that want to become locally led. It gives a baseline view of what locally led development looks like and tools to review how each department works, from HR and finance to programmes, communications and trustees. Staff at any level use it to start internal conversations, plan organisational change and discuss funding models with donors.
CurrentKey manual or guideFree - 10.2C137
Localisation Performance Measurement Framework (LPMF)
A framework from NEAR, a network of local and national civil society organisations, for measuring progress on localisation in humanitarian and development work. Developed between 2017 and 2019, it turns broad commitments, mainly those of the Grand Bargain, into clear areas of change with indicators. Local NGOs, international partners and donors use it to check whether funding, partnerships and decision-making are shifting toward local actors.
CurrentTool or templateFree
10.3 Movement building
- 10.3C140
Guide to Organizing from the Leading Change Network
A curated online guide from the Commons Social Change Library to the organising resources of the Leading Change Network. It gathers overviews, guides and manuals, tools and graphics, courses, training materials, videos and podcasts, and books. Skill sections cover one-on-ones, house meetings, team building, developing leadership, creating strategy and public narrative. Organisers and trainers use it as an entry point to the network's method and to resources in other languages.
Start hereCurrentKey online resourceFree - 10.3C138
Networked Change
A research report from NetChange that studies 47 advocacy campaigns from the previous 10 years that won policy or attitude change, most of them in North America. It sorts them into institutional heavyweights, grassroots upstarts and directed-network campaigns, and finds the last group did best. It sets out 4 principles of directed-network campaigning, with operational tools, analysis and recommendations. Campaigners use it to design campaigns that mix central strategy with supporter-led action.
ClassicResearch and evidenceFree - 10.3C139
Transactions, Transformations, Translations
A report for funders and movement groups on how to measure movement building. It argues for metrics that capture both transactional and transformational change, with a matrix across 10 movement-building strategies. It looks beyond single organisations to whether groups can act together as a larger force, and asks that measures be co-created with the field. Recommendations cover new measures, capacity to use them, leadership development and movement-level metrics.
ClassicKey manual or guideFree
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