Bearing Witness to Collaboration for Collective Good

I got goosebumps during a plenary session at the Independent Sector National Summit last week - and it had nothing to do with the hotel air conditioning.

During "Building the Collective Power of Nonprofits and Philanthropy," the CEOs of four major membership organizations serving nonprofits and foundations sat together and gave a master class on collaboration for collective good.

→ Dr. Akilah Watkins, Independent Sector
→ Deborah Aubert Thomas, United Philanthropy Forum
→ Kathleen Enright, Council on Foundations
→ Diane Yentel, National Council of Nonprofits
→ Tonya Allen, McKnight Foundation (moderator)

There was a time when these organizations acted mainly as competitors. But under this group of CEOs, most of whom have been in their positions for less than three years, the commitment to leading collaboratively is clear.

In a year when nonprofits and foundations have been under attack, these leaders shared important updates about litigation and legislative wins, public awareness campaigns, data collection efforts, and other critical plans underway.

As Diane Yentel put it when talking about the forces that seek to harm the nonprofit sector and the people we serve by creating strife and division:

"If division is their strategy, then our strategy is unity and collaboration."

What I loved about this panel is that they pulled back the curtain to show what that looks like from a practical perspective. Things like:

→ A CEO connection call each Monday at 9 a.m. that starts with a personal check-in, reviews each organization's strategy for the week, and includes a discussion about how to leverage each other's work for shared aims.

→ Regular, ongoing collaboration by teams throughout their organizations - legal, policy & advocacy, communications, and more - to share resources and expertise, and coordinate key initiatives and timelines.

→ Discussion and alignment around moments when one organization needs to take the lead and moments when they need to show up together.

→ Understanding that they may not always agree on a course of action or be 100% aligned on top priorities - and that's okay. They can still work together effectively on the vast majority of their shared interests.

I was especially moved by their willingness - as leaders, as working moms, as humans - to open up about the hard parts of this work and how they are able to lean on one another both professionally and personally.

I left that session with a deep sense of gratitude and hope. To quote Lysa Ratliff, CEO at KABOOM!, who introduced the panel:

"Thank goodness we have you - not on your separate missions - but working together to protect and project the needs of our communities and our sector."

I'll be sharing more insights from ISNS in my newsletter this month - you can subscribe at the link in my profile.

And if you haven't already joined or donated to these organizations, now is a great time to add your voice & support to our collective cause.