Partnership Experiences
by Rebecca Ratzkin

As noted in the article about scrutiny of nonprofit operations, partnerships are increasingly common as organizations strive to increase efficiencies, cut down on costs, and pursue larger projects such as facility development. One of the best examples of several organizations working together to achieve a larger goal is Open Book in Minneapolis, MN. Open Book was a development project initiated by The Loft Literary Center (www.loft.org), the Minnesota Center for Book Arts (www.mnbookarts.org), and Milkweed Editions (www.milkweed.org).

In a conversation with Linda Myers, the outgoing Executive Director of The Loft, we spoke about creating partnerships and developing cultural facilities, the challenges that inevitably surface, and some of the lessons she and her partners learned in creating what many consider one of the most successful partnership ventures in the arts in recent years. The following paragraphs summarize her advice to those attempting projects with other organization partners.

1. Vision trumps everything
Although each separate organization has an individual mission that may not correspond with its partner(s), they have come together to create a vision that everyone shares. It is important to keep that shared vision at the forefront throughout project development. Although there may be times when a partnership is forged in support of a vision initiated by one organization, everyone should feel as if they own the vision. As Ms. Myers points out, “Getting together because of a building is like deciding to get married because you got a free trip to the Caribbean.” In other words, make sure the partnership isn’t arbitrary – create a vision for moving forward; an overarching purpose that all parties can buy into and pursue.

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2. Give each partner what they need and don’t assume
The original Open Book partners had different facility needs, different budgets, and different circumstances under which they were moving into this new space. It was important in order to make the project move forward that the larger and more stable organizations assist those that needed help, either with breaking an existing lease, for example, or in offering the ground floor gallery space. Partners should not expect equality - each organization will have different needs depending on their programming, size, budget, and organizational capacity/leadership.

3. Create an artistic event together
The Open Book organizations recognized that they needed to generate a sense of history and collaboration during the development process in order to create a new culture for all partner organizations working together. They chose to launch the new name of the facility with a joint celebration. They followed with a series of Open Book open nights and built their relationships along the way. Collaborative events of this nature should have a sense of ritual about them and be founded upon communal values that inspire the organizations’ staff, Board and stakeholders.  

For further information please go to the Open Book website at www.openbookmn.org.

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