The Collaboration Prize

The Collaboration Prize is a national competition that recognizes and celebrates nonprofit organizations that collaborate effectively to create greater impact. The Prize celebrates nonprofit organizations that have chosen to permanently collaborate, rewards those that have achieved outstanding results, and offers models to inspire others. The Prize also raises awareness of collaboration as an effective strategy to improve outcomes, achieve scale, increase efficiency, and maximize impact. In addition to identifying and showcasing exceptional nonprofit collaboration efforts, the Collaboration Prize collects and shares models and best practices for the field through the Nonprofit Collaboration Database, a resource for everyone seeking real-life examples of how nonprofit organizations can work together. Models of collaboration include:

• Administrative consolidations designed to share, exchange, or provide back office services such as accounting, IT, human resources, etc.
• Joint programming to launch and manage one or more programs
• Mergers by which governance, programs, and administrative functions have been combined but which may or may not have included integration into a single corporate entity
• Alliances, in which the collaborating entities retain considerable independence but are committed through a federated structure to the achievement of specific goals or purposes

Amount: One grand prize of $150,000 will be awarded. In addition, each of eight finalists will receive $10,000.

Eligibility: Collaborations between two or more nonprofit organizations are eligible, as are collaborations that involve two or more nonprofits and a community foundation, government entity or public agency. In addition, the following eligibility requirements apply:

• A permanent collaboration must have been formed by at least two nonprofit organizations
• A written formal agreement must exist that addresses the critical elements of the collaboration
• The collaboration must have been in operation for at least 18 months
• The collaboration must do most of its work in the United States and all parties to the collaboration must be located in the United States

Link: http://www.thecollaborationprize.org/

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