The Nonprofit Science Podcast · Sheela N. Mahajan

Why Most Nonprofit Collaborations Fail- And What to Do Instead

·1 hr 20 min·2 clips

Priyanka Bernice says a shelter can move from “transactional” to “shared value” by mapping what businesses, clinics, and universities each need.

Sheila Mahajan frames collaboration as a word that gets praised a lot and defined poorly. She points out that funders have often pushed organizations toward partnership without giving them a workable model for it. That has left people frustrated, confused, and busy with activity that never quite adds up to collaboration. She and her guests treat that as a practical skills gap, not a failure of the idea itself. Priyanka Bernice brings a research lens shaped by doctoral work on cross-sector partnerships. Pallavi Gupta brings experience from multi-stakeholder projects across the private sector, government, and international development. The episode uses both perspectives to make the topic easier to use for nonprofit practitioners. It starts by separating surface-level cooperation from true partnership. From there, it asks what makes a collaboration worth the effort. The answer is not abstract goodwill. It is shared value that each participant can recognize for itself. The conversation then grounds that idea in a practical example involving housing, workforce needs, and local business demand. The point is that a homeless shelter, a business community, and a capacity-building partner can each gain something concrete when the bridge between them is designed well. That bridge may come from a consultant, a local organization, or donor support. The work is to name it clearly enough that the parties can see why they belong in the same room. The discussion also introduces collaborative advantage as a deliberate counter to the nonprofit habit of talking only about competitive advantage. Instead of asking what makes one organization unique in isolation, the episode asks what skills, knowledge, and resources become stronger when combined. This reframing is meant to move teams into a more strategic posture. The episode keeps returning to what collaboration does operationally, not just rhetorically. By the end, the listener has a framework for mapping other organizations, institutions, and businesses toward a shared vision. The closing push is toward workshops, interest forms, and concrete next steps. The overall effect is less inspirational talk than a usable translation of research for people who have to make partnerships work in real institutions.

As heard by us

A sharp, practical look at collaboration that turns nonprofit partnership from slogan into strategy.

Sheila Mahajan talks with Dr. Priyanka Bernice and Pallavi Gupta about collaboration as a practical problem, not a slogan. The episode stays grounded in the way funders often ask for collaboration without defining it, then moves into shared value and collaborative advantage.

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Hear how to tell real collaboration from polite coordination.

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