Thinking Outside the Box: Forming Non-Traditional Partnerships

1. Tips for Becoming a Successful Service Learning Site
In order for the partnership with the college or university to be
successful it needs to be collaborative and have mutual benefit.
1. Consider how this partnership contributes to the success
of your organization’s mission.
Identify the benefit before you begin.
2. Prepare your staff.
Share with the staff the scope of the partnership and detail what
the students will gain from this experience. Does your staff
understand the importance of creating a welcoming
environment?
3. Explore any risk management issues related to sharing
your spaces.
What liabilities are you exposing the organization to and do you
have a plan to address them if necessary?
4. Consider how you will support the students and their
commitment.
Who will be responsible for the students? What orientation will
you provide?
5. Measure the Return On Investment. How was your
mission impacted?
Reflection is important for students but also the organization.
Was this experience successful and one that you would like to
repeat? Why? Not all opportunities will be successful but make
sure that you can identify what were the shortcomings. It might
be that you have to go back to the partner and rethink
opportunity.