How can you determine the goals of your outreach partnership?

2 Research your partners

Once you have a list of potential partners, you need to do some research to learn more about them and their goals. You can use their websites, social media, annual reports, newsletters, or other sources to find out their mission, vision, values, programs, achievements, challenges, and stakeholders. You can also look for any previous or existing partnerships they have and how they worked. This will help you understand their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and how they align with yours.

3 Communicate your expectations

After you have selected one or more partners that seem suitable, you need to initiate a dialogue with them and communicate your expectations. You can use a formal or informal approach, depending on the nature and scope of the partnership. You can also use a tool such as a memorandum of understanding (MOU) or a partnership agreement to outline the roles, responsibilities, resources, timelines, and outcomes of the partnership. The key is to be clear, honest, and respectful, and to listen to your partner's needs and concerns.

4 Define your goals

Once you have established a rapport and a common ground with your partner, you can define your goals for the partnership. Your goals should be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. For example, instead of saying "we want to increase awareness of our cause", you can say "we want to reach 10,000 new people in our target audience by the end of the year through social media campaigns". By defining your goals, you can set a direction and a standard for the partnership and monitor your progress and results.

5 Review your goals

Defining your goals is not a one-time event. You need to review your goals regularly and adjust them as needed. You can use various methods to track and evaluate your goals, such as surveys, feedback forms, reports, analytics, or meetings. You can also use a SWOT analysis or a logic model to assess your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, inputs, outputs, outcomes, and impacts. By reviewing your goals, you can celebrate your achievements, identify your challenges, and improve your performance.

6 Nurture your relationship

Finally, you need to nurture your relationship with your partner and maintain a positive and productive partnership. You can do this by communicating frequently and openly, acknowledging and appreciating each other's contributions, resolving any conflicts or issues promptly and respectfully, and seeking new ways to collaborate and innovate. You can also use events, newsletters, social media, or other platforms to showcase your partnership and share your stories and successes. By nurturing your relationship, you can build trust, loyalty, and satisfaction, and sustain your partnership for the long term.