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Nonprofit Organizational Assessment Tool
Strategic Alliances
by: Andrew Lewis*
University of Wisconsin Extension

This section of the Nonprofit Organizational Assessment Tool can help guide a group discussion about an organization's readiness for a strategic alliance. This group discussion ideally should include board members, staff, volunteers, and service recipients, but could be used as a self-assessment tool by anyone associated with a nonprofit organization.

As indicated in the Frequently Asked Questions not all organizations should pursue a strategic alliance. For that reason, this section of the Organizational Assessment Tool is structured a little differently from the other 7 sections. First, check the organizational conditions where you could answer "yes". Next, indicate whether a strategic alliance could address that condition (A lot, Somewhat, Not at All). It is your perception of the organization. There are no right or wrong answers. If used with a group, each individual should complete the assessment tool. After allowing adequate time, compare responses and discuss any areas where there were different perceptions. As a final step, try to determine if you have a significant number of conditions where a strategic alliance would help address a problem. Then, move on to the second portion of the Assessment Tool that focuses on the organizational process. Finally, attempt to complete an action plan to address weaknesses within your organizational process.

This particular section of the assessment tool focuses on the concepts of strategic alliances presented during the educational programs produced by the Learning Institute for Nonprofit Organizations. The complete Nonprofit Organizational Assessment Tool will be composed of eight sections based on the content presented in the eight programs that make up the curriculum of the Learning Institute for Nonprofit Organizations. The Learning Institute for Nonprofit Organizations was a collaboration involving the University of Wisconsin Extension and the Society for Nonprofit Organizations. The University has ended its formal relationship with the SNPO, but videotape presentation kits reside in most of the University of Wisconsin Extension County offices.

*LI faculty contributor for this section: David Campbell

Strategic Alliances Assessment Tool**

Conditions Within the Organization

Indicator Done? Needs Improvement ?

None/
N.A. Some Much

1. The organization is regularly faced with financial resource challenges.

2. The organization considers its long term (five year) financial future to be secure.

3. The organization has the administrative capacity needed to meet current funder requirements and management needs.

4. The organization has the administrative capacity needed to meet future funder requirements and management needs.

5. The organization uses its resources efficiently.

6. The organization is sufficiently regarded by its stakeholders.

7. The organization is sufficiently regarded by its stakeholders to ensure its long term competitiveness.

8. The organization has the clout it needs to be successful today.

9. The organization has the clout it needs to be successful over the long term.

10. The organization’s cost of doing business is competitive.

11. The organization is well positioned to compete successfully for what it needs in the future.

12. The organization is capable of responding to emerging community needs on its own.

13. The organization has the resources it needs to accomplish its strategic objectives on its own.

Organizational Process

Indicator Done? Needs Improvement ?

None/
N.A. Some Much

1. A Strategic Plan or Strategic Direction has been articulated within the past two years?

2. Organizational needs have been identified in that plan or elsewhere within the past two years?

3. The need for strategic alliances has been articulated in the organization’s strategic plan?

4. The value added by strategic alliances has been identified by the organization?

5. A plan for pursuing alliances has been established?

6. Potential partners and their value have been identified and assessed?

7. A target list of partners has been developed and reviewed among senior staff and Board?

Sample Action Plans:

Use the following format to begin formulating an action plan that would improve your organization's performance relative to a specific indicator listed above.

Indicator: Potential partners and their value have been identified and assessed.

Task	Time Line	Who	Will Do What	Evaluation Measure
Task #1	7 days	Executive Director and Board	Have a working session focusing on the identification of potential partners and what they would bring to the table.	A matrix with organizations and the assets that they would bring to an alliance would be completed.

**Part of an 9-part series of assessment tools that address critical management issues within a nonprofit organizations. This tool was developed for the Learning Institute for Nonprofit Organizations and is based in part on two existing tools:

Community Organizational Assessment Tool, Bright, Robert D., University of Wisconsin Extension, 1995 (Adapted from Citizens Involvement Training Program., University of Massachusetts, Amherst).

Checklist of Nonprofit Indicators, United Way of Minneapolis Area, 1998.

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