Five levels of community partnerships
This framework can help a community or organization assess what level of collaboration best meets their needs.
Many local communities and organizations work together to share information, services or provide other types of support; often for some of the following reasons:
- Cost and/or time savings
- Access to regional or cooperative grants
- Innovation and new ideas
- More effective distribution of goods or services
- Shared responsibility
- Consistency and credibility
- Improved performance
Inherent in any partnership are a variety of benefits, risks and interdependencies. To decide the best linkages for a community or organization it is important to understand the level of purpose, structure and process of the partnership (e.g. figure 1), as well as the vision, situation and requirements of the entities contemplating the partnership.
The framework below, created by Teresa Hogue, is an easy to understand guide to help a community or organization determine what level of the partnership is best for them. Each level has its own unique usefulness, dependent on the situation and appropriateness. The goal should not be to reach the highest or most complex level, but instead determine what linkage best fits the group’s purpose.
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Figure 1 Community Linkages - Choices and Decisions |
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Levels |
Purpose |
Structure |
Process |
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Networking |
* Dialog and common understanding |
* Loose/flexible link |
* Low key leadership |
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Cooperation |
* Match needs and provide coordination |
* Central body of people as communication hub |
* Facilitative leaders |
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Coordination |
* Share resources to address common issues |
* Central body of people consists of decision makers |
* Autonomous leadership but focus in on issue |
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Coalition |
* Share ideas and be willing to pull resources from existing systems |
* All members involved in decision making |
* Shared leadership |
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Collaboration |
* Accomplish shared vision and impact benchmarks |
* Consensus used in shared decision making |
* Leadership high, trust level high, productivity high |
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Source: Community Based Collaborations- Wellness Multiplied 1994, Teresa Hogue, Oregon Center for Community Leadership. Used with permission.
Additional information about the foundation of this framework, its common elements and impact measures can be found at Collaboration Framework: Addressing Community Capacity.
Michigan State University Extension offers a variety of community capacity building workshops, including conflict resolution, personality assessment and facilitation.
