The determination of financial and non-financial resources from existing and potential partners
WHY IT MATTERS: The process of evaluating resources allows partners to assess whether the collaboration has the resources to meet its goals.
Tools at a Glance
Account for Resources
Assessing gaps in expertise, networks, and assets.
In assessing existing expertise, assets, and networks, partners may find that the collaboration requires additional resources to achieve its goals. For example, the collaboration may find it lacks sufficient convening power, legal expertise, or access to information. Identifying such gaps can guide the collaboration in selecting additional partners. If a collaboration neglects to account for resources in its early stages, it exposes itself to higher operating risk and ultimately limits its capacity.
“Financing Clean Energy in Berkeley”
In 2006, 82 percent of voters in Berkeley, California, approved a measure to reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent before 2050. City officials soon began work on an action plan to meet those targets and ultimately worked collaboratively with researchers from UC Berkeley, funding partners, and solar power companies to create Berkeley FIRST — a program that provides homeowners with a cost-effective, long-term financing option to install solar panels on their houses. Cisco DeVries, then Chief of Staff to Mayor Tom Bates, conceived the model for Berkeley FIRST and circulated the idea among the mayor and key city staff. The mayor supported DeVries’ plan but told him the program could not “cost the city any money” or “put the city at any risk” — limitations that spurred DeVries to look for cross-sector partners to develop a sustainable and replicable model. The city worked to secure funding partners by submitting two successful grant applications to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Air Quality Management District. DeVries also reached out to solar companies for their expertise and to build commitment to the program model. DeVries also shared the city’s proposal with Dan Kammen at University of California, Berkeley’s Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory to conduct economic modeling and a cost-benefit analysis. While the City of Berkeley provided the authority to use property tax bills as a vehicle for long-term repayment of installation costs and administered the program, DeVries leveraged existing relationships with partner organizations who brought capacity to provide capital, expertise in feasibility, professional services in solar panel installation, and more.
- What financial and non-financial resources are needed for our collaboration to meet its goals?
- What will we do to develop a comprehensive picture of the financial and non-financial resources that all partners bring to the table?
- How will we encourage partners to be transparent in communicating their own resources to the group?
- What will we do if we determine the collaboration does not have the resources it needs to meet its goals?
“The Partnering Toolbook” from The Partnering Initiative
Especially see Box 2: Build a Resource Map on p. 14 and accompanying discussion on p. 13 for guidance and a template to help collaborations identify the financial and non-financial resources partners bring to the collaboration. Also see Tool 4: Partnering Roles and Skills Questionnaire, which partners can use to assess whether the collaboration possesses skills in areas like facilitation, evaluation, and more. “The Partnering Toolbook” is a comprehensive guide to partnering across sectors.
“Collaboration Toolkit: How to Build, Fix, and Sustain Productive Partnerships” from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services
Especially see pp. 1-2 and 7-11 of Section 5 on expertise for discussion and tools related to identifying the resources and expertise the collaboration needs to achieve its goals, as well as the existing resources that partners bring to the table. “Collaboration Toolkit” is designed to help law enforcement and their partners build effective community policing partnerships but is accessible with minimal adaptation across a wide range of issues.
Account for Resources
The determination of financial and non-financial resources from existing and potential partners
WHY IT MATTERS: The process of evaluating resources allows partners to assess whether the collaboration has the resources to meet its goals.
Assessing gaps in expertise, networks, and assets.
In assessing existing expertise, assets, and networks, partners may find that the collaboration requires additional resources to achieve its goals. For example, the collaboration may find it lacks sufficient convening power, legal expertise, or access to information. Identifying such gaps can guide the collaboration in selecting additional partners. If a collaboration neglects to account for resources in its early stages, it exposes itself to higher operating risk and ultimately limits its capacity.
“Financing Clean Energy in Berkeley”
In 2006, 82 percent of voters in Berkeley, California, approved a measure to reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent before 2050. City officials soon began work on an action plan to meet those targets and ultimately worked collaboratively with researchers from UC Berkeley, funding partners, and solar power companies to create Berkeley FIRST — a program that provides homeowners with a cost-effective, long-term financing option to install solar panels on their houses. Cisco DeVries, then Chief of Staff to Mayor Tom Bates, conceived the model for Berkeley FIRST and circulated the idea among the mayor and key city staff. The mayor supported DeVries’ plan but told him the program could not “cost the city any money” or “put the city at any risk” — limitations that spurred DeVries to look for cross-sector partners to develop a sustainable and replicable model. The city worked to secure funding partners by submitting two successful grant applications to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Air Quality Management District. DeVries also reached out to solar companies for their expertise and to build commitment to the program model. DeVries also shared the city’s proposal with Dan Kammen at University of California, Berkeley’s Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory to conduct economic modeling and a cost-benefit analysis. While the City of Berkeley provided the authority to use property tax bills as a vehicle for long-term repayment of installation costs and administered the program, DeVries leveraged existing relationships with partner organizations who brought capacity to provide capital, expertise in feasibility, professional services in solar panel installation, and more.
- What financial and non-financial resources are needed for our collaboration to meet its goals?
- What will we do to develop a comprehensive picture of the financial and non-financial resources that all partners bring to the table?
- How will we encourage partners to be transparent in communicating their own resources to the group?
- What will we do if we determine the collaboration does not have the resources it needs to meet its goals?
“The Partnering Toolbook” from The Partnering Initiative
Especially see Box 2: Build a Resource Map on p. 14 and accompanying discussion on p. 13 for guidance and a template to help collaborations identify the financial and non-financial resources partners bring to the collaboration. Also see Tool 4: Partnering Roles and Skills Questionnaire, which partners can use to assess whether the collaboration possesses skills in areas like facilitation, evaluation, and more. “The Partnering Toolbook” is a comprehensive guide to partnering across sectors.
“Collaboration Toolkit: How to Build, Fix, and Sustain Productive Partnerships” from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services
Especially see pp. 1-2 and 7-11 of Section 5 on expertise for discussion and tools related to identifying the resources and expertise the collaboration needs to achieve its goals, as well as the existing resources that partners bring to the table. “Collaboration Toolkit” is designed to help law enforcement and their partners build effective community policing partnerships but is accessible with minimal adaptation across a wide range of issues.