Chapter 2 - Work With Community Partners: Put it in writing

Culture Counts: A Guide to Best Practices for Developing Health Promotion Initiatives in Mental Health and Substance Use with Ethnocultural Communities

Once you and your partners have agreed to work together, write a detailed description of just how you will all work together. A written agreement creates greater commitment, and making everyone’s expectations clear in print helps to reduce misunderstandings.

Items that might be included in the agreement:

• a brief description of each of the partners
• each partner’s responsibilities and commitments
• who will provide staff, volunteers, meeting spaces, office supplies, photocopying, etc.
• how funding will be used
• how work and participants will be acknowledged
• an outline of the expected results of the initiative
• a timeline, a budget and payment schedule where needed
• communication expectations, such as whether there will be regular meetings or reports.

Please note that laws about agreements between partners may vary from place to place. It is always a good idea to get legal advice on collaborations with outside groups to prevent exposure to unnecessary or unintentional risks. Some other items that should be discussed between partners and with legal oversight include ownership of copyright of materials produced by the partners and what steps will be taken to resolve any serious conflicts should they arise.

To learn more about partnerships:

• Human Resources Development Canada: The Partnership Handbook (Canada)
• Community Tool Box: “Promoting Coordination, Cooperative Agreements, and Collaborative Agreements Among Agencies” (USA)
• Pink Book: Making Health Communication Programs Work (USA)
• L. Joy Mitchell & K. A. Drake. “1+1 = 3 Does Size Really Matter? Collaborative working between large and small voluntary and community organisations: A Scoping Study.” National Council for Voluntary Organisations (UK)

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