PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Lodestar Foundation, an organization dedicated to maximizing the growth and impact of philanthropy, today announced the eight 2011 Collaboration Prize finalists. These eight organizations, who will each receive $12,500, are recognized for creating impactful and innovative collaborations. A grand prizewinner will be chosen from this group and awarded an additional $150,000. This is the second installment of the Collaboration Prize, a national award designed to identify and showcase models of collaboration among nonprofit organizations.
“Selected from more than 800 applications, the finalists are each a superb model of how nonprofits, by pooling knowledge, resources and talent, can serve their communities more efficiently and with greater impact,” said Jerry Hirsch, The Lodestar Foundation Chairman.
“It is an honor to be a part of the 2011 Collaboration Prize and encourage collaboration in the nonprofit sector,” said Sterling Speirn, Selection Panel Chairman for the 2011 Collaboration Prize and President and CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. “As seen from the accomplishments of these eight finalists, partnerships can enable you to work smarter, thereby becoming more effective in your mission to help others in need.”
The following eight collaborations, listed in alphabetical order, exemplify the positive impact that can result from working together.
- Adoption Coalition of Texas (Austin, Texas): Working with the Austin Community Foundation and Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, five child-placing agencies join forces to increase the number of children moved from foster care to permanent homes.
- Community Voice Mail Federation (Seattle, Washington): This national collaborative of human services organizations helps people living in crisis, poverty or transition rebuild their lives by connecting them via telecommunications services to jobs, housing and information.
- Feed More, Inc. (Richmond, Virginia): The merger of Meals on Wheels Serving Central Virginia and the Central Virginia Food Bank expands services and more effectively and efficiently fights hunger.
- Graduate! Philadelphia (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania): This collaboration among workforce and economic development organizations and institutions of higher education is marshalling resources to create lasting systemic change and increase the number of adults completing a college degree.
- Gulf Coast Consortium (Galveston and Houston, Texas): University partners tackling human health challenges design a collaborative approach to initiate and maintain multi-institutional training programs, purchase and share costly equipment and facilities necessary for advanced research, and encourage and facilitate exchange of novel scientific knowledge.
- Merger of Network for Good and Groundspring (Bethesda, Maryland): A merger of two nonprofits combining complementary strengths to increase charitable giving and efficiency through a robust platform for online giving and associated support services for users.
- The WAICU Collaboration Project (Madison, Milwaukee, Sheboygan, Kenosha, Ashland, Ripon, and De Pere, Wisconsin): Twenty private colleges and universities involved in the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (WAICU) create the WAICU Collaboration Project to perform all administrative support functions of the member institutions, improving efficiency and yielding millions of dollars in cost savings for its members.
- Westside Infant-Family Network (Venice and Culver City, California): Organizations serving children and families fill a significant service gap and forge a collaborative approach to provide culturally sensitive, bilingual mental health care for children (prenatal through three) and their families.
About The 2011 Collaboration Prize
The collaboration must have involved two or more nonprofit organizations. Each collaboration was judged on the extent to which it demonstrated improved effectiveness in achieving social good; more effectively used human and financial resources; represented an innovative response to a specific challenge or opportunity; and exhibited characteristics that would demonstrate that the collaboration is a model for the field, sector, or community.
Out of the eight finalists, the Selection Panel – a group chaired by Sterling Speirn, president and CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and comprised of elite philanthropists and leaders of major philanthropic foundations – will choose one grand prizewinner to receive an additional $150,000. The grand prizewinner will be announced in New York City on April 8, 2011. For more information, please visit www.thecollaborationprize.org.
The success stories of the finalists, along with other submissions received as part of the 2011 Collaboration Prize, will be added to the Nonprofit Collaboration Database, an interactive resource comprised of real-life examples of exceptional collaboration. The Database is housed on the website of the Foundation Center, a national nonprofit service organization that connects nonprofits and grantmakers to tools, resources and information. Learn more at http://foundationcenter.org/gainknowledge/collaboration/.
The Lodestar Foundation
The Lodestar Foundation is a grantmaking organization devoted to maximizing the growth and impact of philanthropy and provides funds nationally and internationally to organizations that support its mission. In support of this mission, Lodestar created the Collaboration Prize in 2009 to identify achievements in collaboration as models for inspiration and replication. True to the spirit of collaboration, the Lodestar Foundation has partnered with AIM Alliance, the Foundation Center, La Piana Consulting and other foundation and nonprofit leaders to support the 2011 Prize. Please visit www.lodestarfoundation.org for more information.