The Art of Partnership
Earlier this year Variety New York conducted a value-added session at the Museum of Modern Art to discuss effective partnerships. The museum graciously opened their space and galleries to our group for us to learn about how they partner with grassroots organizations throughout the city. Then, our group took some time to explore the elements of good partnerships. Overall, it was a very effective session.
In recent days, this workshop has come to mind as I reflect on what kinds of partnerships Variety New York maintains. Many non-profit organizations, when thinking about this, might immediately think about their funders and other supporters. Variety New York undoubtedly has some amazing partners of this type such as the movie theaters we work with for our Wishing Well campaign, or the sponsors that support our events, or the individuals who help us grow and think strategically. However, possibly our greatest group of partners is our grantees.
Some foundations might forget that grantees are not just investments to be managed, but rather they are partners in a reciprocal relationship. Approaching grantmaking as a partnership can help foundations develop a greater sense of candor between funder and grantee allowing for more authentic learning and growth. This candor creates space for the organizations to reflect on the work together to ensure the most effective approaches are implemented. And, it can help ease some of the tensions created by a financial power imbalance between parties leading to more trust and care in the relationship.
Variety New York strives to create partnerships with our grantees and we have experienced the benefits in doing so. After each interaction with one or a group of our grantees, Variety New York’s staff learns more about effective practice of transformative arts work, better understands trends in the field, or observes the extent to which our value-added model works and how it could improve. We know that we do not “have all the answers,” so we appreciate the knowledge offered by grantees to help us learn and grow together. All of these insights allow Variety New York to become better stewards of resources for our grantees and the greater field. What our grantees give to us is invaluable and we could not do good work without approaching grantmaking as a reciprocal partnership.
Variety New York staff and board are often thanked by our grantees. However, as I reflect on my first year of service to Variety New York, I find it important to thank our grantees. These organizations are led by some of the smartest, most innovative, most passionate people I know and I am humbled and honored to shepherd Variety New York’s partnerships with them.