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Education
The Dot Connector
by
Jana Riess
As a result, Strive has invested significant time and resources in helping its affiliated organizations make sure they are comparing apples to apples when they talk with each other. It has helped some organizations create databases or hook up with corporate partners who can show them how.
“One thing that has become apparent is that we’re not necessarily creating the solution, but a system to learn what the solutions are,” said Zimmerman, Strive’s director of continuous improvement. “A focus on data helps to create that learning system.”
Collaborators or rivals?
For some Strive participants, collaboration doesn’t come easily. Many of the nonprofits compete against each other for funding from corporate sponsors. Why would they want to share proprietary research and information with potential rivals?
“They come to the table as competitors,” Curl-Nagy said. “They’re kind of leery of each other. It’s like they’re saying, ‘This is my stuff, and I’m not sure how much I want to share with you.’”
Fortunately, the organizations soon discover that they all want the same things for Cincinnati’s children. They realize too that they can learn much from each other.
“We have so many nonprofit organizations and providers in this area,” Curl-Nagy said. “But everybody works in silos, and there’s only so far they can go by themselves.”
Strive’s mentoring network is a good example of how different organizations are learning to work together. Coming from both sides of the Ohio River, the member organizations all focus on using adult volunteers to help school children. Thanks to Strive, they’re sharing information and learning from one another how to move forward.
“The folks from Covington have really good data on how mentoring has made a real difference in students’ success, improving attendance rates and achievement scores,” Zimmerman said. “Now, Cincinnati Public Schools is looking at that and working on trying to get the same data measurements in place.”
Strive-generated partnerships have also impressed Rolonda Smith, executive director of Parents for Public Schools of Greater Cincinnati, a nonprofit that seeks to increase parent involvement in the schools. Even before Strive, nonprofits in the area would occasionally work together, but the partnerships were usually small and brief, focused on a particular issue. Strive, however, took nonprofit collaboration to a grander and more permanent level, bringing in large organizations such as the Boys & Girls Clubs and the United Way.
“We’ve been able to share information for the good of the children, and that’s been so helpful for the community,” Smith said.
It’s critical to have a champion
For nonprofits to collaborate successfully, they must have a point person who is willing to serve as a leader, Zimmerman said. Ideally, this will be someone from an umbrella organization like Strive that doesn’t have a direct stake in one nonprofit over another.
“It’s critical to have a champion or a leader for these networks,” Zimmerman said. “Otherwise, it’s a lot more difficult to get people to claim ownership.”
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