Partnerships in Action: Amplifying Impact Through Collaboration
At P.A.C.E., we’ve been lucky to work with dozens of partners across the country on our mission to support advocacy, communications, and engagement efforts that strengthen schools & communities and ensure every voice is heard in our democracy. Central to our work is our belief that local leaders and organizations who are “on the ground” doing the work know the needs and goals of their communities best. That belief has informed a key component of P.A.C.E.’s approach: a deep emphasis on partnership and collaboration. It sounds cliché but we truly believe we can go further in advancing equity and access by working together. In this post, we reflect on three lessons about amplifying collective impact.
Lesson 1: Deep Relationships are the Foundation To Success
Whether we’re supporting a partner in building a movement, running a voter participation campaign or boosting digital and community engagement, the key is having time to form a genuine relationship. We’ve found that when we have a runway long enough to build a relationship before we launch a campaign (think six months minimum) we learn our partner’s goals, understand their challenges, and collaborate to develop strategies that lead to greater success.
Relationships need to be built at every level: between our team and our partner’s team, between partners and schools or other organizations, and between schools and their communities. For example, we partnered on three voter participation campaigns with a local advocacy organization that had strong relationships with schools, and they knew these schools had strong relationships with their families. These schools had built trust with their families over the years, which helped us design a campaign that spoke directly to their community’s needs. Each relationship led to greater synergy and allowed us to easily gather and share information and tailor messages, tactics and creative content to inform and guide action. By leveraging the trust the school already had with families, we saw voter turnout rates that nearly doubled the expected turnout rates in an election with otherwise low participation.
Lesson 2: Know And Play To Your Partner’s Strengths
Our local partners often possess a profound understanding of the distinctive qualities of the organizations they collaborate with within their community. Recognizing their extensive knowledge and unique expertise, we can effectively leverage our campaign expertise to amplify impact.
For instance, one of our partners has deep roots and built a robust community organizing team that is highly active and visible. Their team’s knowledge of local events, such as back-to-school nights, block parties, football games, and BBQs and picnics, allows them to engage and inform families in a natural way that inspires advocacy action. The team’s strong relationships with community leaders and stakeholders also facilitates access to greater support. This well-established organizing structure is a solid foundation for long-term collaboration; through regular communication and shared opportunities, we can work together to develop a comprehensive campaign strategy that resonates with the community and leads to greater impact.
Lesson 3: Emotional Intelligence Matters
Emotional intelligence matters in our work and any work that involves more than one human. That might be stating the obvious. But when you’re a nonprofit whose MO is to support other nonprofits, tapping into the emotional intelligence of partner organizations is critical. By connecting with schools and families on a personal level, we can better understand their unique experiences and develop strategies that resonate with them. This has allowed us to support partners and parents, engage them in conversations about why voting matters, and help them feel empowered to make their voices heard.
Partnerships in action truly amplify impact, and we look forward to continuing to learn and grow through these collaborations.
By Kelly Hall, Director of Development and External Relations
