Types of Partnership
Two of the partnership types you may come across are Commercial and Philanthropic. These will not be as relevant for this course but it’s worth understanding what they mean:
Commercial
Partnership
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Commercial
Partnerships
These are very different from the multi-stakeholder and cross-sector partnerships commonly referenced in this course. The partners here are otherwise referred to as staff, customers, suppliers and service providers. The partnerships involve contracts, transactional services, subcontracted work, and a transfer of risk. This can include major infrastructure projects and where governments outsource to a company, which is sometimes referred to as public-private partnerships (PPP).
Philanthropic
Partnership
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Philanthropic
Partnerships
One organisation may provide sponsorship or a charitable donation of funds, time, or other in-kind resources to another, usually for some social good purpose. There is a similarity to commercial partnerships because it is more of a transactional delivery of service and there is a transfer of risk.
The main types of partnerships that this course will refer to are:
Collaborative,
Strategic,
Advanced.
It’s important to understand the differences when you are considering joining forces:
Collaborative
Partnership
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Collaborative
Partnerships
In these types of partnerships, the organisations involved may identify a common objective and decide to take their own action. There is no organisational commitment to the collaboration or a binding contract. Organisations might occasionally share information and coordinate efforts, but they act independently. Most importantly, there is no sharing of decision-making power; there is a limited transfer of resources and a high degree of autonomy.
Strategic
Partnership
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Strategic
Partnerships
Partners share decision-making power, accountability and exposure to risk. They jointly identify objectives, co-create solutions and action plans. There is a high degree of resource sharing and management of partnership activities. The partnership is likely to have a secretariat that has no partner status, or the administrative support and facilitation of the partnerships may be hosted by one or more of the partners. That may be a professional team or a volunteering individual. Aspects of some membership organisations may be included in this definition.
Advanced
Partnership
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Advanced
Partnerships
These partnerships invest in the sustainability of the partnership and its impact. The partners, or the secretariat, spend resources on the monitoring and evaluation of the partnership itself in order to continually improve the partnership and the impact of its activities. These partnerships promote and encourage positive transformation in other partnerships.