On Partnerships

It’s an interesting season at NeighborLink Fort Wayne. For the past year, I have felt that we’re reaching the capacity of what we can do locally in Fort Wayne, at least under my leadership. I’ve sensed a plateau in the number of volunteers and projects we’ll connect with in a given year for awhile. However, we continue to see record numbers in both categories, by God’s grace. But, something has to change.

With this reality, it creates tension in my leadership capacity because I’m hitting a place that I’m not sure what to do next. Either I can’t yet see it or I don’t have enough time to dedicate to seeking it out due to the amount of time I now spend on administrative things. I see the vision of what needs to happen, but I’m not sure how to get there. 

I sense that we need to hire more staff to support Fort Wayne and to support the Network of other organizations using the NeighborLink platform. This is all well and good until you have to find $75,000 - $100,000 a year to cover their salaries and the increased expenses of the work they’ll bring in. I’ve learned enough about sustainability that if I don’t go about raising that kind of money correctly, it won’t be around for long. If anyone has that kind of money that’s willing to invest in us, we could move on from this season. 

Didn’t think so. So, plan B. 

Plan B includes seeking relationships with non-traditional partners and asking them for more than a financial contribution. This morning I met with a major construction company that builds all over the state of Indiana with the hopes of casting the vision of NeighborLink in a way that they’ll see us as an organization worth investing in way beyond financial support.

I gave them a list of current initiatives I’m working on rather than a list of needs for them to invest dollars in. I told them in leaving that I’d much rather write a press release that tells the story of the initiative they helped design and implement, rather than a $5000 gift.   I look forward to hearing back from them on what they thought in reflecting on the meeting. I’ve got a lot to learn about this process.

I can’t get to the next level of where I believe God is taking NeighborLink on my own, and I need relationships with people that have skills way beyond my comprehension to help clarify that vision into reality. A major construction company who manages major projects has skills that are way beyond what we do day-to-day at NeighborLink, but could be vital to the organization we’re becoming. Just having them think through our model will help me see things that I overlook often because of my closeness to it all.

I’ve been challenged over the past few years by the way I’ve seen non-profits seek relationships/partnerships with for-profit companies and desire to do it slightly different. Tradition sources of income for non-profits is long gone and if I don’t seek to find the new sources, then we just won’t stick around for much longer or expand like we need to. 

If you’ve seen some partnerships between non-profits and for-profits that are progressive in the local, Fort Wayne community, please let me know. I want to learn from them to see how they made it work.