FAQs

The Collaboration Prize was created by The Lodestar Foundation, a Phoenix-based philanthropic organization. Lodestar currently is the sole funder of The Collaboration Prize.

The mission of The Lodestar Foundation is to maximize the growth and impact of philanthropy. This mission is fulfilled, in part, by supporting collaborations that increase impact and eliminate duplication of efforts among nonprofits that would otherwise compete. In support of this mission, Lodestar seeks to identify achievements in collaboration as models for inspiration and replication in the nonprofit world. It is in this spirit that The Collaboration Prize was created.

For the purposes of the Prize, collaboration means joint programming, administrative consolidations, or mergers among two or more organizations that would otherwise compete.

The 2008 Prize will be awarded in March 2009 at the Spring Forum on Nonprofit Effectiveness held by the Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation at Arizona State University.

The Prize of $250,000 will be awarded to the winning collaboration. Although the award must be used for charitable purposes, there are no specific requirements for its use. The Collaboration Prize planners hope that the funds will be used to enhance the winning collaboration’s continued contribution to the social good.

The Arizona-Indiana-Michigan (AIM) Alliance is a collaboration comprising The Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation at Arizona State University, The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, and the Johnson Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership at Grand Valley State University (Michigan). The Alliance will assist in promoting and publicizing The Collaboration Prize, reviewing nominations and selecting semi-finalists. The AIM Alliance also will be involved in creating case studies, articles, white papers and research to inform and inspire others in the sector.

To be eligible, a collaboration must:

• Be designed to be permanent or to operate for an infinite period of time; because grants or federal or state programs have time limits, a collaboration formed for these purposes would not qualify
• Involve two or more nonprofit organizations that each would otherwise provide the same or similar programs or services and compete for clients, financial resources and staff
• Have a structure that is evidenced by a formal agreement that uses the resources of each party in a more effective way; this agreement could be a memorandum of understanding (MOU), a letter of agreement, a contract, or a merger agreement 
• Have begun operation at least 18 months prior to nomination and must have been in existence no longer than eight years prior to the date of nomination (refers to the collaboration, not the individual organizations)
• Be registered as a 501(c)(3) organization, or all participating members of the collaboration must be registered as 501(c)(3) organizations
• Be in good standing with all regulatory authorities
• Be located and conduct work in the United States   

Each collaboration will be judged on the extent to which it:

• Demonstrates significant impact (i.e., achieve exceptional community benefit) through quantifiable means and/or qualitative evidence
• Represents an innovative response to a specific challenge or opportunity, better positions the collaboration as a field/sector leader, or more effectively uses human and financial resources

Strong and effective collaborations comprise organizations that have a commitment to work together for the long run.  For example, they may receive a grant to jointly operate a program, but their commitment to working in collaboration to deliver that program extends beyond the life of that particular grant and even beyond that single program. In other words, if that source of funding is no longer available, they are committed to raising funds from other sources to continue their work together. Therefore, they structure their working relationship out of the belief that their collaboration will continue for an indefinite period of time. 

The Collaboration Prize is grounded in the belief that the best indicators of that intent to work together for an indefinite period will be found in the agreement that governs the collaboration (MOU, merger agreement, or contract). Listed below are some indicators that may be helpful in determining whether a collaboration was designed to have a permanent structure. Please note that these indicators, taken together, do not prove the permanence of a collaboration. Neither will they apply to all collaborations; some are more suited to programmatic collaborations while others would only be used in administrative consolidations. The indicators include:

• All of the organizations that are parties to the collaboration have made the commitment to be involved for an indefinite period.
• The relationship is defined and driven by the agreement. 
• The collaboration makes use of a shared governance structure. 
• Decision-making is shared or has been transferred to the collaboration, rather than being owned by individual organizations.
• Resources, which might include staff and facilities, are being shared in order to achieve greater program impact.
• In the case of a merger, all programmatic and administrative functions have been integrated into the merged corporation. 
• Functional areas (for example accounting, human resources, information technology) have been combined to save costs and promote greater efficiencies. 
• Activities (programs and services) and the associated staff have been transferred to the collaboration from the participating organizations. 

No. If the collaboration was formed only to eliminate competition for funding, rather than to also improve impact or efficiency, the collaboration does not meet the requirement pertaining to competition. Prize evaluators will consider the following information appearing in the nominator letter as indicators that the collaboration meets the criteria regarding former competitors that have chosen to collaborate. Prior to forming their collaboration, the organizations involved in the collaboration must have been:

• Working with the same or similar constituencies, and
• Working in the same geographic area (or an area with substantial overlap), and
• Providing the same or similar services.   

Nominations are now closed. The Collaboration Prize was announced May 13, 2008. Nominations were accepted from June 1, 2008 until July 21, 2008. Nominations received after this deadline are not eligible for the 2008-2009 Prize.

A nomination may be submitted by any individual who is familiar with the collaboration and is not an employee of any entity involved in the collaboration. Board members may submit nominations in support of organizations they serve.

Yes. Individuals are encouraged to recognize and nominate all qualifying nonprofit collaborations

The nomination process and forms are located on this website. Forms are available in Microsoft Word and PDF formats. These forms may be easily downloaded, completed and submitted to The Collaboration Prize by mail. As part of the nomination process, the Prize requires documentation of the collaboration’s or participating organizations’ 501(c)(3) status, as well as other documentation. Be sure to review the nomination package thoroughly to ensure your nomination will be accepted. All materials submitted become the property of The Lodestar Foundation and The Collaboration Prize.

Yes.

Yes. Incomplete nominations will not be reviewed.

It is highly recommended that participants in a collaboration be made aware of their nomination for The Collaboration Prize. The nomination process calls for details specific to the collaboration, and it will be necessary for nominated organizations to cooperate with the nominators to present a thorough and accurate representation of the collaboration’s work. Once the nomination is accepted, Prize planners will communicate with the nominator and nominees, alerting both of a nomination for the Prize.

Yes. As part of the selection process, it will be necessary to communicate with all parties involved to ensure a clear understanding of the process, approach and impact of the collaboration.

A Final Selection Panel made up of prominent figures in the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors will select the finalists and The Collaboration Prize recipient.

Up to 30 semi-finalists may be asked to submit additional information to support the evaluation and selection process. These organizations may also be contacted by phone to assist in clarifying answers and activities. From this list, up to eight finalists will be selected. Site visits will be conducted, allowing Prize reviewers to meet with these finalists and others in their community in order to help the Final Selection Panel gain a clear picture of the efficiency and impact of the collaboration. Finalists will be invited to participate in the Spring Forum on Nonprofit Effectiveness at the Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation at Arizona State University in March 2009.

No. All updates on the selection process will be published at www.thecollaborationprize.org. Register here to receive these announcements, as well as periodic updates via email.