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Partnering For Success

Whenever possible, consider collaborating with organizations within your community that share a similar mission. Mentoring programs that develop partnerships with other organizations enjoy many benefits, including the ability to:

Expand services to reach a wider audience;
Develop a greater understanding of client needs;
Improve communication with other youth-serving organizations;
Increase knowledge of existing resources and services available to mentees, mentors and your mentoring program staff;
Ensure the sustainability of your mentoring program;
Increase visibility with the media and public;
Reduce costs; and
Conserve resources.

For a collaborative effort to succeed, all participating organizations need to jointly:

Establish a clearly defined mission;
Establish goals, objectives and activities;
Create clearly defined operating procedures and member roles;
Form a public relations/communications plan; and
Ensure that the collaborative efforts are valued by all.

(This section is excerpted from How to Build a Successful Mentoring Program Using the Elements of Effective Practice, Section V. How to Manage a Program for Success.)

Partnering Resources

Additional information, resources and tools are available in the Find Resources section and in the How to Build a Successful Mentoring Program Using the Elements of Effective Practice Tool Kit.