This selected bibliography pinpoints a few useful documentary resources on foundations founders across Europe.

Building successful collaborations : a guide to collaboration among non-profit agencies and between non-profit agencies and businesses / Carolyn Parkinson. - Cambridge & North Dumfries Community Foundation, 2006.

A guide to collaboration among non-profit agencies and between non-profit agencies and businesses includes information about partnerships and collaborations, success factors, conflict areas and solutions and information on working with businesses along with appendices that provides contact information for possible collaboration agreements.
Download: Building Successful Collaborations

High-engagement philanthropy: a bridge to a more effective social sector: perspectives from nonprofit leaders and high-engagement philanthropists. - Washington, DC: Venture Philanthropy Partners, 2004. - 120 p.

This report is the fourth one in a series produced by Venture Philanthropy Partners (VPP) and Community Wealth Ventures. It presents new research and tools for advancing management practices in the non-profit sector through six dialogues with philanthropists and non-profit leaders who discuss their experiences. Prior reports in this series include: 'Venture philanthropy 2002: advancing nonprofit performance through high-engagement grantmaking', 'Venture philanthropy 2001: the changing landscape' and 'Venture Philanthropy 2000: landscape and expectations'. All of these are available at www.vppartners.org
www.vppartners.org/learning/reports/report2004/report2004.pdf
For information: www.vppartners.org/report2004.html

Learning together: collaborative inquiry among grant makers and grantees / Craig McGarvey. - New York: The Ford Foundation, 2004. - 11 p. - (GrantCraft).

This brief guide proposes the exercise of learning partnership among grantmakers, grantees, and consultant researchers or evaluators. A 'mini-case study' is given as an example of how a grantmaker explored the process of collaborative inquiry. The paper is one in a series by GrantCraft concerning the basics for grantmakers and is sponsored by the Ford Foundation.
For information: www.grantcraft.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageID=619
For information: www.grantcraft.org

 
Working with start-ups: grant makers and new organizations. - New York: The Ford Foundation, 2004. - 32 p. - (GrantCraft).

This guide contains the narrative experience of grantmakers who have supported new nonprofits or groups in the processing of establishing themselves. It explains how such bodies negotiated the path from idea to organisation, and the lessons gained concerning how to solve problems and increase sustainability. It includes recommendations for capacity-building resources available online.
For information: www.grantcraft.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageID=623
For information: www.grantcraft.org

 
Seeking ngo-donor partnership for greater effectiveness and accountability: final workshop report / Alnoor Ebrahim. - 2004. - 40 p.

This report summarises the discussions which took place during a workshop held on May 12-13, 2004. Organised by the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the workshop involved 46 participants. Approximately half of which were representatives of NGOs in Latin America and the Caribbean, one-third were representatives of large donors (IBD but also World Bank and the Ford Foundation) and the remainder were scholars or members of the NGO community in Washington, D.C.
www.keystonereporting.org/files/MIF-NGO%20Workshop%20Report-Final-A.pdf#search=%22partnership%20ngo%20donor%22

 
“Towards a self-sustaining infrastructure”/ Lee Davis, Nicole Etchart In: Alliance Extra. - (March, 2004). – Pages 1-6.

According to the authors, it is time to place greater value on ‘infrastructure’ in the non-profit sector and on those ‘invisible’ organisations that work to build it. These organisations need to be recognised as an essential part of building a healthy and sustainable non-profit sector, which requires a certain amount of financial assistance. A strategic and fair fee-for-service model, supplemented by donor support to ensure wider access, may be at least part of the answer. Such solutions are presented in this publication.
www.allavida.org/alliance/axmar04e.html

“NGO's seat at the donor table: enjoying the food or serving the dinner?” / Ann C. Hudock In : IDS Bulletin. - Vol. 31, No 3 (July, 2000). - Brighton, UK : Institute of Development Studies.

This article argues the case for three types of reform that may enable the relationship between NGDOs and their official donors to move closer to that predicated on 'partnership' - a relational condition that, despite public rhetoric and policy pronouncements, too seldom exists today. Barriers to partnership exist because of, amongst others, donor preference for contracting, cut-backs in their field staff and reporting requirements that orient NGDO accountability away from intended beneficiaries. Without substantial reform, the supposed greater presence and capability of NGDOs will not translate into structural influence on the mainstream of aid system behaviour. The issue that is dealt with in this publication is based on the premise that unless donor institutions change, NGDOs will remain servers rather than diners at the donor dinner table.
For information: www.ids.ac.uk/ids/bookshop/bulletin/bull313.html 

“Partnerships between international donors and non-governmental development organizations : opportunities and constraints” / Derick W. Brinkerhoff, Jennifer M. Brinkerhoff In : International Review of Administrative Sciences. - Vol. 70, No 2 (2004). - [s.l.] : International Institute of Administrative Sciences. – Pages 253-270.

This article examines partnerships between international donors and non-governmental development organisations (NGDOs). Following a discussion of partnership’s rationale and presumed benefits, it provides a general overview of selected donors’ partnership experiences and describes four illustrations of donor– NGDO partnership. Opportunities and constraints are identified, and gaps in oratory and practice are illustrated. Identified challenges include constraints related to donor initiated partnerships, addressing the legacy of past relationships, the insufficiency of relying on personal relationships, and the limits of good intentions. The article stresses the importance of recognising the political and economic realities that frame donor–NGDO relationships and condition incentives existing on both sides of the partnership.
For information: http://ras.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/70/2/253

 
Building donor partnerships / Terrice Bassler, Mabel Wisse Smit. - New York : Open Society Institute, 1997. - 48 p.

This practical handbook was developed from the results of workshops, discussions and visits to national foundations within the Soros Foundation network. Aimed at increasing the practical capacity in the network for developing collaboration, the handbook defines donor partners and partnerships, as well as describes how to work with a range of funders and actors involved with projects directed at strategic change.
www.osi.hu/partnerships/

Feasibility study on the setting-up of a Europe-wide bridge between grant-givers and grant-seekers / Martine Godefroid. - Brussels : The Association for Innovative Cooperation in Europe (AICE), 1996. - 30 p.

This study contributes to the ongoing search for innovative solutions regarding the gap in resources that the Third Sector is continually faced with. Using information collected through desk research and interviews, the study arrives at the conclusion that the globalisation of the Sector requires that transnational approaches be applied to solving such growing financial problems. The Study also led to the creation and implementation of a task force (the Association for Innovative Cooperation in Europe) to spearhead the expansion of local, national and global resources. Country profiles detailing legal and fiscal frameworks are included.
http://www.nefic.org/history.htm

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