Collaborating with philanthropy to achieve and sustain authentic partnerships

An effective strategy to address community-identified challenges is creation of meaningful partnerships with local philanthropic organizations. This presentation will highlight lessons learned about working with philanthropy with illustrations from “Partners Investing in Nursing’s Future,” (PIN) a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson and Northwest Health Foundations. Fifty local partnerships across the United States, involving over 200 funders and more than 450 community partner organizations, worked for two to three years on local nursing workforce issues.  The scope of work often expanded to other community health improvement issues.  Most partnerships have adopted many of the CCPH Principles of Partnerships; these will be illustrated.  The partnerships sought to create authentic relationships across sectors that would sustain beyond the funding period.  Each community proceeded in a unique way, accelerated by local contexts and the synergy of participating in a national initiative.

Lessons learned about partnerships from the perspective of philanthropy, as well as lessons learned by community groups about working with philanthropy, will be highlighted.  The policy implications of partnerships will be discussed, illustrating multiple perspectives on policy and highlighting relevant elements and drivers in different contexts.  Implications for community health improvement will be illustrated based upon selected experiences of partnerships.  Finally, we will highlight future directions for selected partnerships, demonstrating how the work of the initial partnership can be sustained and/or expanded to address relevant health issues in local community contexts as defined by academic, workforce, health services, government, and/or nonprofit partners.