Collaboration is a process in which two or more parties come together to work on common goals. The advantages of collaboration are numerous and benefit all parties involved. This article lists what I think are the main benefits of collaborating with your colleagues.

1. Collaboration is educational. Help all participants learn about agencies, mission, programs, services, eligibility criteria, etc. of others. Also, when you collaborate with your peers, they often learn about other resources that you may not be familiar with. Collaboration helps build your knowledge base. And of course, the more knowledge and resources you are aware of, the more you can help your customers.

2. Collaboration results in appropriate referrals. When you collaborate with other professionals and understand their programs and services, you can make more appropriate referrals, when needed. For example, you may not have a service that Client A needs, but you know that Organization XYZ does. When you make the right reference, it saves time and is a win-win situation for all parties involved.

3. Collaboration helps prevent duplication of services. When you collaborate with your peers, people will be directed to the agency that is in the best position to provide the services and programs they need most. This frees up time for professionals to focus on providing the services for which they are most trained and qualified.

4. Collaboration saves time. When professionals collaborate, they can reach more people because they know exactly where to send people to meet their specific needs. When a person is referred to the right agency early on, service providers will not spend time moving people from one organization to another. Instead, you will free up your time to serve more people.

5. Collaboration helps organizations pool their resources to achieve a common goal. For example, it may be cost-prohibitive for an organization to host a conference on “technology for people with disabilities.” However, by partnering with other organizations that serve people with disabilities, each organization could contribute a portion of what is needed to fund the conference. Additionally, donors like to see collaborative efforts and, in some cases, are more willing to fund organizations that collaborate on specific projects.

6. Collaboration allows them to access the skills, experience and knowledge of others. Not only does this improve your knowledge base, but it can also save organizations money, as they are less likely to hire a consultant.

7. Collaboration provides coordinated training opportunities. When organizations collaborate, they are in a better position to jointly develop and offer a wide variety of training opportunities that benefit their staff members. This can save them money as they are pooling their resources, offsetting costs related to training.

While it’s true that collaborating with other nonprofits takes time and energy, the pros far outweigh the cons. Collaboration helps agencies share expertise, make appropriate referrals, avoid duplication of services, save money, and ensure a smooth service delivery system. It is a win-win situation for all parties involved.