| A Charity Nonprofit Coalition (CNPC) was formed as a solution to the competitiveness among the nonprofits in the City of Collaboration, a community located in the southeast valley of Arizona. Key elements in the success of this community-based nonprofit collaboration were documented through action research and involved a mixed-methods approach using both quantitative and qualitative data. A quantitative survey was conducted of 180 individuals from the nonprofit sector, the city, businesses, and the community. Six key factors were assessed as they related to the collaboration and included: Environment, membership characteristics, process and structure, communication, purpose, and resources. Qualitative data were gathered from reports, minutes, newspaper articles, and interviews and described the formation and implementation of the CNPC. Four main categories emerged as action plans were put forth by members of the CNPC and included: Strategic planning, a needs assessment, the businesses and community impact, and other identified benefits for the CNPC. The purpose of the CNPC was to solve the competitive problem among the nonprofits and to collaboratively harness the resources of time, treasure, and talent--the social capital--of the whole community. The results of this study suggest the formation and implementation of the CNPC, an application of cooperative game theory, was a win-win strategy. The greatest payoff for all was to collaborate; where each organization gained more than they could achieve on their own or in competition with each other. |
