I have found Chapter 14 of the Jossey-Bass handbook supplied me with some surprising information. The authors, Yankey and Willin mention that since the 2008 economic recession, nonprofits (organizations registered as tax exempt with the IRS) has grown to over 1.5 million (p.375). What is amazing to me is that you would expect that the recession would decrease the nonprofits since funding to them is probably decreased considerably. However, these numbers say that their services are needed now more than ever.
The authors note that collaboration and strategic alliances form to increase capacity and services provided beyond what an individual organization can do by themselves (p. 377). This makes sense and it's nice to see that organizations that compete for constituents can come together and help the public when they're needed most.
My question regarding this is, does anyone know of local organizations that collaborate or form a strategic alliance? The only thing I can think of is during the flood of 2006 when many of the local nonprofits joined together to help members of the community out of thier flooded homes and into shelter. Although it was a huge success, it was temporary. I can't think of any other services that are provided as a joint force between local nonprofits. For those who are a little more involved, I'd be curious to see if this does happen in our area.
Yes! Some of Broome County’s mental health providers collaborate, as this very topic is the basis for my capstone. See, all of this education really does run full circle! Some mental health providers refer and receive clients from each other, while others collaborate through participation on task forces and through the direct administration of services. My research revealed a strong willingness to collaborate among research participants, who are administrators of the provider agencies. They showed interest in further opportunities for strategic alliances, such as through collaboration among different agencies’ services.
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