The author of this SSIR piece urges readers to be more realistic about partnering’s potential and its risks. “There is a tendency in the philanthropic world to assume that collaboration has intrinsic value and effectiveness, and to expect partnership to serve as a solution, often to problems that have not even been well defined. … My purpose here is not to criticize partnering, but to plead for greater realism about partnering’s benefits and limitations. We must cease invoking partnering as a panacea and begin to treat it simply as one method among many for achieving a foundation’s or a non-profit’s goals.”