Building a Culture of Collaboration

Abstract

Getting started with the act of collaboration involves two key components: a group of willing participants and a structured conversation. Connecting Coffee is a free networking program for nonprofit professionals, started because there wasn’t a venue for people to describe their work, ask for what they need and form relationships with other agencies. In the structured environment of Connecting Coffee, a moderated small-group discussion, nonprofit professionals are coming together and solving problems.

We in the nonprofit sector tend to act like there is a cold war among all the other agencies in the area. We keep to ourselves and don’t talk to other agencies in the area. We hear about their work from our donors and when they get the big grant we wanted. We wonder how they are getting things done. Rarely do we ask them ourselves and rarely do we truly understand who our competitors are and who our potential partners are.

This isolation could also be a contributor to staff turnover. The lack of a network of like-minded people increases the sense that you are the only one doing what you are doing. The ground-level work is hard, with an emotional investment that can take a toll on your key people. When a group of people starts talking about how hard it is, there are social bonds that develop to make the next part of the conversation easier: finding solutions. Some people have called this therapy for nonprofit professionals: It’s not. It’s a productive business tool that breaks down walls and creates pathways for communication and collaboration.