$250,000 Nonprofit Collaboration Prize Semi-Finalists Named by Lodestar Foundation

The recent economic shockwaves felt around the world have made  a primary goal of The Lodestar Foundation—to encourage collaboration among nonprofits in order to eliminate duplication and create efficiency—more pressing than ever.  Earlier this year, in an effort to increase nonprofit efficiency, The Lodestar Foundation, in association with the Arizona-Indiana-Michigan (AIM) Alliance, created The Collaboration Prize, a cash award of $250,000 presented to the most successful collaboration in the nonprofit world. 

Today, Lodestar is pleased to announce the 30 semi-finalists, selected from a pool of over 644 U.S.-based nominations (see below for list).

“To be frank, we were astounded by the number of nominations we received for this first-time prize.” says Lodestar board member Jerry Hirsch. “Although we expect the economic crisis to increase the urgency some nonprofits feel to conserve resources by collaborating, we also want this prize to demonstrate that even during prosperous times, collaboration is often a strategy that should be considered. Regardless of overall economic conditions, funds for nonprofits are never unlimited and efficiency should therefore always be an imperative.”

Mergers and collaborations are "much more common" than they were a decade ago, according to Linda Lampkin, director of the Urban Institute's National Center for Charitable Statistics. (see: "Nonprofit organizations seek strength in mergers." Christian Science Monitor. June 2, 2006. MacDonald, G. Jeffrey.)

The 30 Prize semi-finalists represent a wide variety of organizations across the U.S. that address: youth services, voting rights and election reform, homelessness, unemployment, healthcare, and the environment. There are also a number of museum mergers. 

An analysis of the top 176 qualifying collaborations demonstrates that:

• Most were formed to maximize funds and/or improve services
• 40% of collaborations were administrative consolidations
• 35% of collaborations were joint programs
• 25% of collaborations were mergers
• Most mergers were recent (18 months to 3 years old)
• Most were in the areas of health (25%) and community development and housing (12%).
• 72% were local in nature

“The collaborations that were evaluated are saving these nonprofits real dollars in administrative overhead, staffing and all kinds of other costs that are having an incredibly positive impact on, not just their bottom lines, but also their ability to focus their scarce resources on carrying out their important missions,” observes Lois Savage, President of the Lodestar Foundation.

In keeping with its own mission, Lodestar collaborated with academic teams at three partner universities—Arizona State, Indiana University and Michigan’s Grand Valley State University, known collectively as the AIM Alliance—in order to select the 30 semi-finalists. Eight finalists are currently being chosen from the 30, and the prize winner will be chosen by a Final Selection Panel of leaders from the nonprofit and business worlds and will be chaired by Sterling Speirn, President and CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Lodestar will announce the winner on March 5, 2009 at a seminar on collaboration among nonprofits sponsored by the Association of Small Foundations, in partnership with Lodestar. The finalists will be invited to participate in the Spring Forum on Nonprofit Effectiveness at Arizona State University one day later.  The most outstanding models will be compiled for study and used as blueprints by academics, nonprofit leaders and grantmakers in order to advance the practice of nonprofit collaboration.

A list of the 30 semi-finalists appears below. To set up interviews with Lodestar, the AIM Alliance or any of the semi-finalists, contact Yasmin Hamidi at yhamidi@fenton.com or (212)584-5000 x 227.

The Collaboration Prize
2008/2009 Semi-Finalists
(in alphabetical order)

1. Blue Ridge Forever, Asheville, North Carolina, Coalition of land trusts and conservation organizations dedicated to preserving the Western North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains
2. Cancer Vaccine Collaborative, New York, New York, Cancer research collaboration promoting learning over competition
3. CANnect  Newton, Massachusetts and Vancouver, Washington, Two schools for the blind created a technology platform for internet utilization by the blind
4. Chattanooga Museums Collaboration Chattanooga, Tennessee,  Administrative collaboration among The Creative Discovery Museum, The Hunter Museum, and Chattanooga Aquarium
5. Collaboration of Housing Resource, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Collaboration to address homelessness
6. Colorado Community Organizing Collaborative, Denver, Colorado, Social justice community organization collaboration
7. Crittenton Women’s Union, Boston, Massachusetts, Merger of two organizations serving low-income women
8. Delaware Valley Association for the Education of Young Children, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Merger of two organizations supporting providers of early childhood education
9. The DEMOS/NVRI Merger, New York, New York (national headquarters), Merger of two organizations promoting voting rights and election reform
10. Earth Share, Bethesda, Maryland (national headquarters), Workplace giving program to support environmental organizations (coordination of campaigns among state chapters)
11. The Employment Network, Indianapolis, Indiana, Collaboration among organizations concerned with unemployment due to disability or homelessness
12. eWaste Alternatives, St. Albans and Searspoint, Maine, Electronic waste recycling collaboration providing training, and employment
13. FAHE/BPC, Berea and Morehead, Kentucky and Christiansburg, Virginia, Central Appalachian affordable housing coalition
14. Future Care Planning Services, Rochester, New York, Collaboration to provide planning services to aging parents of adult children with disabilities
15. JACI/CTI, Indianapolis, Indiana, Collaboration between Junior Achievement and Children’s Theater
16. MACC Commonwealth Services, Minneapolis—St. Paul, Minnesota, Five human service organizations formed a new organization to provide back office services
17. Mercy Housing Lakefront, Chicago, Illinois, Collaboration between two affordable housing organizations
18. Mosaic, Omaha, Nebraska, Merger of two organizations providing services to children, youth, and adults in 100 communities in 14 states
19. Museum of Nature and Science, Dallas, Texas, Merger among the Dallas Children’s Museum, The Science Place, and Dallas Museum of Natural History
20. New York LawHelp Consortium, New York, New York, Collaboration among legal services organizations providing on-line resources
21. Noll Medical Pavilion, Springfield, Illinois, Collaboration to improve healthcare services to children with disabilities and mental illnesses
22. PATH Partners, Los Angeles and Glendale, California, Administrative and professional management services consolidation and merger model for human service agencies
23. Porchlight, Inc., Madison, Wisconsin, Merger of emergency shelter and low-cost housing providers
24. Ready, Set, Parent, Buffalo and Lackawanna, New York, Collaboration between organizations supporting at-risk new parents
25. SafeHaven of Tarrant County, Fort Worth, Texas, Merger between The Women's Shelter and Women's Haven
26. Shorebank Enterprise Cascadia, Ilwaco, Washington, Merger of two community development financial institutions
27. Skills Center and HOPE Services, San Jose, California, Merger of human service providers
28. Supportive Housing Employment Collaborative, San Francisco, California, Collaboration among supportive and affordable housing organizations
29. Western Reserve Land Conservancy, Novelty, Ohio (Northeastern Ohio), Merger of nine land conservation organizations
30. YMCA/JCC Integration, Sylvania, Ohio (Greater Toledo), Merger of Jewish Community Center and Young Men’s Christian Association in Greater Toledo