The Collaboration Prize recognizes collaborations among two or more nonprofit organizations that each would otherwise provide the same or similar programs or services and compete for clients, financial resources and staff. The Prize also seeks to build an information base of effective practice models that can be studied and used by academics, nonprofit leaders and grantmakers to inspire and advance their work.
To be eligible, a collaboration must:
Involve two or more nonprofit organizations that each would otherwise provide the same or similar programs or services and compete for clients, financial resources and staff
Have a structure that is evidenced by a formal agreement that uses the resources of each party in a more effective way; this agreement could be a memorandum of understanding (MOU), a letter of agreement, a contract, or a merger agreement
Have begun operation at least 18 months prior to nomination and must have been in existence no longer than eight years prior to the date of nomination
For the purposes of the Prize, collaboration means joint programming, administrative consolidations, or mergers among two or more organizations that would otherwise compete.
Each collaboration will be judged on the extent to which it:
Demonstrates significant impact (i.e., achieves exceptional community benefit) through quantifiable means and/or qualitative evidence
Represents an innovative response to a specific challenge or opportunity, better positions the collaboration as a field/sector leader, or more effectively uses human and financial resources
