How to develop partnership consortia and mergers

For any agency thinking of applying to the Lottery Advice Transition Fund and wondering how to form effective partnerships, this new guidance from NCVO may be helpful. It is intended to help organisations manage and plan the process of consortia development right through to contract delivery, and has been developed in conjunction with Collaboration Benefits CIC.

The free guides cover both Hub and Spoke Consortia and Lead Agency Consortia.

They note that delivering public services through consortia (formal partnerships) is nothing new. Many voluntary organisations have chosen to operate like this to lever in the best talents and reach of a variety of similarly-minded organisations. What is changing in the current context is rather than choosing to develop consortia, many organisations are being forced into it, as with the Lottery funding. Contracts are being let at a bigger scale – so organisations have to come together to have necessary scope to win and deliver the contract.

This clash of push and pull factors is the first thing you need to understand when thinking about consortia. They say you need to be honest about why it’s an option for you, and what you’re risking and gaining by forming such a partnership.

For the free NCVO guides, see How to develop Consortia and mergers - public services