Partner Process
LIN seeks to build strategic partnerships with local not-for-profit organizations. If your NPO is interested in partnering with LIN, please review the information below or contacting us for further information.
Criteria for Partnership
LIN looks for partners that have the passion, capacity and commitment to achieve common goals and objectives. Following is a summary of criteria for prospective partners:
- Not-for-Profit: LIN seeks partners that exist solely to provide programs and services that address a social cause or address a community need. These organizations reinvest any surplus in towards helping to pursue their goals. LIN does not support for-profit corporations nor individuals.
- Location: Partner organizations must be based in and around HCMC and be providing programs and services to residents of Vietnam.
- Affiliations: Recipients must not be seeking funding for religious nor political purposes.
- Non-Discrimination: Partners must demonstrate a track record of non-discrimination on the basis of age, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, disability, national origin, political affiliation and religious belief.
- Accountability: Partners will have a clear and simple decision-making and approval processes and be ready to identify those individuals responsible for making decisions.
- Mission: Partners will be working to improve access to services for poor, underserved and/or disadvantaged groups in Vietnam and/or working to improve the quality of life in their community.
- Needs Test: Partners will be able to demonstrate a clear need for support and demonstrate that its programs and activities seek to address that need.
- Legal: Partners must operate in accordance with Vietnamese law.
Beyond the above list of general criteria, LIN evaluates prospective NPO partners based on the organization's willingness and ability to support a sustainable partnership.
- Good Faith: Partners will be open to building a mutually beneficial relationship, based on trust, integrity and accountability.
- High Potential - Partners will demonstrate commitment and resilience, based on the organizational history and programs, the ability to manage and retain staff, and a results-based orientation.
- Proactive – Programs that offer a curative or preventative approach are given preference over programs offering short-term solutions.
- Community Engagement: LIN seeks partners that are open to, or actively building, relationships and strategic partnerships with a variety of local stakeholders.
Getting Started – Building a Partnership with LIN
Detailed below is the process for entering into partnership with LIN:
Step 1. Complete the Partnership Application
Step 2. Schedule a Needs Assessment Consultation (optional)
Step 3. Partnership Request – Based on the needs of your NPO, you may decide to complete one or more of the following forms:
Step 4. Due Diligence – You may be asked to host a short site visit while, in some cases, a telephone consultation may suffice.
Step 5. Partnership Launch – Once a partnership is formed, depending on the type of partnership, your NPO may be invited to do one or more of the following:
- Participate in a partner orientation program
- Review and sign a partnership agreement
- Participate in networking and capacity building events (voluntary)
- Support on-going communication and collaboration
Step 6. Feedback and Evaluation – Partners are asked to provide feedback on any impacts, outcomes and lessons learned. Information may be provided via surveys, email updates, reports and/or telephone consultations, as agreed upon by both partners.
Benefits of Partnership with LIN
LIN provides a variety of services to our NPO partners, from consultations and training to grantmaking and volunteer matching. We believe that partnership with LIN offers the following benefits to NPOs:
- Improve Capacity: LIN support services aim to build the capacity of NPOs for better program design, best practice evaluation and research, improved fundraising outcomes, new communication strategies, training programs, etc.
- Promote Growth: Grants allow NPOs to expand on-going programs and/or to pilot test new programs and services.
- Resource Mobilization – LIN saves NPOs time and effort by mobilizing resources on their behalf. LIN maintains a database of skilled professionals that want to volunteer their services. We also help NPOs to identify and reach out to prospective donors.
- Share Best Practices – Sometimes, we are so wrapped up with our work that we miss out on opportunities to improve our services through the experiences of other organizations. Even when your organization is “one of a kind,” there are always benefits to NPOs that take the time to network and share their experiences.
- Raise Awareness – Partnership with LIN will help your NPO to build upon your existing support network by involving new members of the community, thus a wider range of stakeholders, which will help raise awareness to your cause.
- Meaningful Cooperation - Increasingly, donors are looking for long-term partners. Different from short-term partnerships, long-term partners offer a safe environment for partners to be sincere and open about the organizational strengths and weaknesses.
- Cost Savings - Pro-bono volunteers save NPOs money by providing consultation services free of charge.