Partnership Building
Definition
Partnership Building is about working with other people and organisations to make your development a success.
Guidance
Partnerships can be forged with both the public and private sectors. In each case there are common themes that should guide what you do:
- Engage on your terms. Be clear about what your goals are. Think about which areas you are willing to compromise on and where your red lines are.
- Think creatively. Solutions may not be obvious or conventional. Do not be afraid to do something different if it works for your project.
- Focus on developing good personal relationships. Even if a deal is not done immediately future opportunities may become available.
- Play to your strengths. Think careful about the unique qualities you offer a potential partner. Sell them the benefits.
- Be persistent and patient. Agreements are never made overnight. Do not worry if progress is slow, this is normal. Keep at it unless the door is firmly shut.
While there are these universal principles the public and private sectors are very different in terms of approach, objectives and temperament. They offer different benefits and should be approached in different ways.
Public Sector
Building partnerships with public sector agencies (namely Local Authorities) involves familiarising yourself with their structure and objectives. Find out what the priorities are and the bureaucratic pressure points. This preparation means you will talk to the right people and be able to focus on their interests. The same principles apply here as with campaigning and lobbying. Tailor your message to the audience and show how a partnership could benefit the Council.
A practical example would be an asset transfer proposed in an area with high crime and unemployment levels. If the Local Authority has key targets to meet in these areas talk about how your development could help them (through engaging young people and encouraging enterprise and training). There is no need to emphasise other aspects of the development (e.g. catering) if they will not interest the Local Authority.
Councils can seem impenetrable from the outside; a morass of committees, plans and departments. If you have few current links get in touch with the Local Strategic Partnership. These departments facilitate partnership between private, public and voluntary sectors. They should be able to put you in contact with the appropriate people. In general the key departments for development work are Regeneration, Economic Development and Asset Management.
Only start exploring partnership opportunities when you are clear about your own plans and objectives and when you have a good understanding of the political dynamics. This is important because it will allow you to enter discussions with confidence and a definite proposal. Otherwise you may frustrate officers and councillors, or seem like you are simply asking for money. First impressions are crucial, take extra care to get them right.
Enter negotiations at Director (for officers) and Cabinet (for councillors) level. Priorities are set at this level. Once these people are convinced to work with you they will direct others to liaise on the detail. Keep touching base with senior officials and councillors, they can help with overcoming bureaucratic roadblocks.
Be aware of your strengths. Local Authorities are always looking for better ways to consult local people and extend services to hard-to-reach groups. Development Trusts often reach further into communities than Local Authorities. Leverage this advantage, you are a logical partner for delivering services such as health awareness.
Partnership is about an approach to working as well as specific agreements. A good partnership is far greater than the sum of contractual arrangements between the various parties. Partnership building is most effective where common goals are identified and the partners work together in a spirit of cooperation. Each party will always have specific interests but awareness of this can lead to solutions that help each partner.
When working with Local Authorities look at what outputs you can deliver in return for a market discount. This might mean delivering services in your development that enables the sale of a different property.
Private Sector
Working with private sector partners can appear a less obvious route for Development Trusts but is worth exploring. From the outset understand where private companies are coming from. They exist to make profits. Get comfortable with this idea before entering discussions and do not waste time. Most companies today recognise that making profit is not incompatible with social benefit and may have extensive resources and expertise at their disposal.
Make sure that any company you work with shares your values and buys into your vision for the development. Doing this at an early stage means you can quickly make a decision about whether it is right to proceed.
The private sector offers lots of opportunities. Think about whether the building could be part of a larger development, for example health, housing or commercial. This has the potential to cross-subsidise your costs and make the project more financially viable. Talk it through with a developer who has a good reputation and talk to other organisations that have worked with them in the past.
There may be the option for external individuals or organisations to take an equity share in the venture. This could help with financing with benefits of future surpluses shared between the partners.
What to avoid
Do not be vague in agreements even if you have a great relationship with your partners. This can lead to misunderstandings and disagreements further down the track.
Avoid partnerships that you are not comfortable with even if you feel it is essential for the project to succeed. An unhappy partnership is highly likely to end in failure when the development faces difficulties.
In the case of partnerships with private companies do not make either of these mistakes:
- Reject private sector involvement entirely and think the profit motive is incompatible with social benefit. A private company may provide the expertise and / or financing to make a development work, generating profit for themselves and social benefit for the community. If you are nervous structure any deal so that the private company only makes profits after a certain level of surplus is generated.
- Enter a deal with a private company that does not share your values. All partners should be committed to the social benefits and see them as intrinsic to any profits made.