The Sierra Nevada is the longest, unbroken mountain range in North America, a 400-mile-long expanse of granite peaks, deep forests, and sparkling lakes. Last weekend my wife Becky and I had the pleasure of visiting the Sierra Valley Preserve Nature Center, about 125 miles northeast of Sacramento, the California state capital.
The Sierra Valley Preserve Nature Center features exhibits on wildlife, water, geology, and natural systems in the Sierra Nevada, as well as the history and culture of the Washoe and Mountain Maidu people who have lived in the region since time immemorial. Both tribes helped to plan and create exhibits about their long history and ongoing presence in the region.
I think of the Nature Center as a symbol of an exceptionally successful collaboration between five nonprofits. As I mentioned last week, when I review my proudest achievements, collaboration with partners was almost always part of a successful outcome.
Becky and I made our first donation in the area with a $500 check she wrote to the Truckee Donner Land Trust in 2000. In 2008, eight years later, with support from the Morgan Family Foundation, the Truckee Donner Land Trust, along with the Feather River Land Trust, the Sierra Business Council, The Nature Conservancy, and The Trust for Public Land, united to form the Northern Sierra Partnership, in order to conserve, restore and enjoy the most valuable lands and waters of the northern Sierra Nevada. The total land conserved since the launch of the Partnership is some 150,000 acres, over 230 square miles. And, the Northern Sierra Partnership has just embarked on a new 10-year plan!
As we hoped, what began as a modest plan to enhance the level of collaboration among groups we supported has evolved into a fully functional partnership that is attracting the kind of investment needed to get the work done. Collaboration is never easy, but the partners are seeing the many practical benefits of working together to achieve their ambitious vision.
Next week I’ll look at some principles that can help make your collaborative efforts a success.
- Identify not just one, but three or four organizations you could collaborate with.
- How would you approach these organizations to propose a collaboration? Learn more about the Sierra Valley Preserve Nature Center.