Successful service and service-learning programs give careful attention to planning goals for participants, orientation, activity design, logistics, and partnerships with other organizations or individuals. Rarely does a service or service-learning program operate in isolation. By its very nature, the idea of serving involves working with others to provide access to a site or population, training on a particular topic or issue, supervision of participants, or other collaborative roles essential to meeting service goals. For participants to have a great service experience, others must be involved in supporting your program goals.

Partnerships are a vital ingredient in sustainable, high-quality service and service-learning programs, but often taken for granted. Too often, we may think of working with partners as little more than a scheduling issue (when can my participants come to your site?). We may forget to consider, what’s in this for the partner? Like all social or collaborative relationships, partnerships require careful cultivation through ongoing communication and negotiation.

The best partnerships are dynamic relationships between different organizations and individuals working together to mutual benefit. The first step is to clearly articulate your own program goals and objectives and then discuss how those goals might align with the needs of your proposed partner. What activities might meet both your goals and their needs so that the effort enhances the capacity of each partner? What are you offering that as a fair exchange for the access and information the partner is giving you? This is the most important aspect of building a partnership. All other aspects of working together are influenced by the expectation of mutual benefit. This core concept is called reciprocity—each partner is motivated because they are both giving and receiving something of value by working together.

A common concern about partnerships focuses on expenses. What direct and indirect costs are involved in the interaction? Some new funds may be needed, but some costs may be absorbed by a partner because they see a specific benefit in return for their investment. A well-designed activity will create a fair balance between real and perceived costs and benefits. Equally important is to use ongoing communications to ensure that reciprocity is sustained. Checking back with partners regularly to see “how are we doing” in working together helps identify areas for improvement and builds trust. The most effective partnerships engage in formal evaluation that may identify needed changes, document outcomes and support celebration of our work together.

Some partnerships develop formal partnership agreements that spell out partner roles, duties, and obligations as well as expectations, goals, and evaluation strategies. Whether formal or informal, reaching a clear agreement creates a solid foundation for a sustainable relationship.

If all this sounds time-intensive, that is true. Like social relationships, such as friendships, sustainable partnerships require an investment in the time to get to know each other, learn about each other’s needs and styles, develop a common language, and design shared activities. For service and service-learning programs, this attention to shared learning and goals can help build a lasting partnership relationship grounded in reciprocity.