Bridgespan Monograph Says Ineffective Donor-Grantee Collaboration Undermines Philanthropic Results

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) November 4, 2011 -- BOSTON, MA–November 4, 2011–In a paper unveiled at this year’s Independent Sector conference, “The Donor-Grantee Trap,” (www.bridgespan.org/the-donor-grantee-trap.com) authors Thomas Tierney and Richard Steele illustrate how ineffective collaboration between donors and their grantees prevent philanthropy from achieving its potential. Positioned as a guide for nonprofit leaders, their boards and donors, the paper is based on Tierney’s book with Joel Fleishman, Give Smart: Philanthropy that Gets Results and other Bridgespan research.

Asserting that especially in this economic climate, philanthropists and nonprofits must learn to get the most from every dollar they invest, the authors describe three “imperatives of effective collaboration” for which both parties share responsibility:

• Resource it right: Make sure that the grantee has what it takes to get the job done;
• Pursue partnership: Develop shared goals and a productive working relationship (which demands a certain level of strategic clarity and a reasonable “cost of capital” burden on the grantee);
• Get better together: Create the necessary conditions for learning and continuous improvement.

According to Tierney and Steele, “Though these imperatives appear simple; experience has shown, however, that following them almost always requires confronting, and overcoming, some deeply ingrained dynamics, assumptions and behaviors.”

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