Developing partnerships for integrated, merged or amalgamated programs
Partnerships can be developed with the following organizations:
- A multi-service agency with a broad-based community board
- A local school board
- A local government (municipality)
- Working with an existing child care board to expand their program
Another form of partnership will take place if you decide to merge with another non-profit organization. This will involve all of the steps listed for developing a stand-alone agency above plus all of the considerations in how to work in partnership.
A helpful resource to help you in a partnership situation is the Toronto First Duty's Guide to Early Childhood Service Integration. We have referred to this Guide in several areas of the Resource Kit.
This Guide describes integration as a process of partnerships: from co-existence through to full integration that is graphically described below. The Guide provides information and suggestions about how these organizations can move closer to integration: - Source: City of Toronto, Toronto First Duty: Guide to Early Childhood Service Integration. , p. 22.
The Getting Started section of the Guide deals with helping organizations to integrate their governance structures. The steps involve:
- Getting the right people to the table
- Does the leadership exist?
- Compile a Community profile: demographics and services
- How to Build Consensus
- Developing a Common Vision Statement
- Developing a Partnership Agreement
- Set organizational targets
- Develop joint policies and procedures to guide your partnership
Once you have developed your partnership agreement, you will be in a position to work productively together to achieve your service goals.
Resources
Toronto Best Start Network Partnership Agreement
In addition, the Integration Network Project has put together resources from other jurisdictions to help in the process of moving from co-existence to integration. These resources can be found in the Resource Kit section at