onPhilanthropy - Collaborating Multiplies Energy and Dollars

onPhilanthropy - Collaborating Multiplies Energy and Dollars: "Collaborating Multiplies Energy and Dollars
By: Nathan Shaver, 03/24/05
Similar to giving circles, which allow many individuals to leverage their giving capacity and ultimate influence, local donor collaboratives are a way for foundations and organizations to come together, pool resources and have a greater impact.

The Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers (ABAG) is a regional association serving Baltimore City and the surrounding five counties. For the past twenty one years, ABAG has served its members through educational programs and technical assistance, while helping make the most of funders� investments. A cornerstone of ABAG�s efforts has been to encourage organized philanthropy through local collaboration.
Every funder group is set up differently, and each is �based on the way the funders� see their goals. Some groups create shared portfolios of individual grants, some pool funds to make �joint, strategic investments,� while others simply �share information about research trends, programs that are working, and evaluation efforts.� One of the most important points to keep in mind is that �there is no right or wrong way� to collaborate or organize philanthropy.
Some of the trends and lessons of collaboration are shared in a recent report commissioned by The Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers, �Local Donor Collaboration: Lessons from Baltimore and Beyond� by Alice C. Buhl of Buhl and Associates. Today�s Fundraiser spoke with Buffy Beaudoin-Schwartz, Communications Director for ABAG, about some of the results of their research, and collaboration initiatives in general."