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Select a project partner
A partnership can give a project a real boost – or cause it to fail. That may sound drastic, but it reflects the experience of many organisations working in development aid. Choosing the wrong partner means, at best, wasted time; at worst, a loss of trust – among donors, local communities and the people the work is actually intended to benefit. Carefully selecting project partners therefore lays the foundation for everything that follows. This article explains what matters most in this process – and what practical experience teaches us.
The first question: What is a partnership supposed to achieve?
Before you even start looking for partners, it is worth taking a clear look at your own needs. Is it a question of local knowledge that is not available in-house? Access to a community that you would not have on your own? Shared resources that make a project possible in the first place? Or credibility gained from having an established organisation by your side?
Each of these answers leads to different partners. A small parish in a deprived neighbourhood of Manila has different strengths to an international NGO with its own office in the capital. Both can be valuable – but not for the same project, and not in the same way. Those who recognise these differences clearly from the outset make better decisions.
What makes a good partner
A good project partner does not necessarily share the same methods or organisational culture. But they do share the same fundamental values. For the Vision Help International Care Foundation, this means, in concrete terms: respect for the people we are helping; honesty in the use of resources; and a willingness to take responsibility – even when it becomes uncomfortable.
In addition, there are practical criteria that play a role in choosing a partner:
- Proven experience in the relevant field – not just statements of intent, but verifiable results
- Stable internal structures that facilitate reliable collaboration
- Transparency in the use of funds and a willingness to be mutually accountable
- Local roots and the trust of the communities in which we work
None of these criteria on its own is decisive. But taken together, they paint a picture that says far more than any self-presentation during an initial interview.
How to really get to know your partner
On paper, many organisations look good. Their websites are professionally designed, their reports sound convincing, and they are happy to provide references. All of this is useful – but it is no substitute for a first-hand impression.
Anyone wishing to assess a project partner properly should visit the site to see the work for themselves. How do staff treat the people they are helping? How are mistakes dealt with – openly or defensively? How does the organisation react when things do not go to plan? These questions cannot be answered from a distance. They require time, face-to-face discussions and, at times, uncomfortable observations.
Making the most of references
References are a useful tool – but only if they are used correctly. If you simply ask, ‘Were you satisfied with our collaboration?’, you rarely get an insightful answer. If, on the other hand, you ask specific questions – about difficult situations, about moments when the partnership came under pressure, about what you would do differently in hindsight – you will learn much more.
When compared, aid organisations often differ less in their public image than in the way they deal with crises and conflicts. It is precisely at such times that it becomes clear whether a partner is truly reliable.
When values diverge
One of the most difficult situations in partnership work arises when, in the course of the collaboration, it becomes apparent that fundamental values do not align. Perhaps one partner is not managing donations as carefully as agreed. Perhaps decisions are being made that run counter to the interests of the beneficiaries. Perhaps a power imbalance develops that poisons the working relationship.
In situations like these, there are no easy answers. But there is a clear sequence of steps: first, an open discussion; then, a joint search for solutions; and if both fail, a willingness to end the partnership – even if that is painful in the short term. Continuing a bad partnership simply because walking away would be inconvenient ultimately harms everyone involved, especially the people the projects are intended to benefit.
Transparency in donations as a common standard
One area where partnerships particularly often fail is the management of financial resources. The administrative costs of aid organisations are a sensitive issue – and a frequent source of dispute when partners have different ideas about what constitutes appropriate expenditure. Clear agreements from the outset, shared standards for accounting and reporting, and regular mutual transparency regarding the use of funds are not a matter of mistrust. They form the basis for a partnership that can withstand pressure.
Partnerships that grow
The best partnerships develop over the years. What begins as a tentative getting-to-know-you phase evolves into a collaboration that achieves more than the sum of its parts. Which organisations in the Philippines are most effective often depends less on their size or budget than on the quality of their networks.
The Vision Help International Care Foundation has been working with local churches, community centres, educational institutions and public authorities for many years. These relationships have grown over time – through working together, through crises that have been overcome together, and through the shared knowledge that we stand by one another. Such partnerships cannot be bought or forced. They are built on patience, reliability and a genuine belief that we can achieve more together than we can alone.