Guide for Drafting a Partnership Agreement, Part 3

This is part three of a four part series designed to help churches draft a partnership agreement.

Priorities, Goals, and Action Plans

See Attachment 1(you might include a brief paragraph here about the major priorities of the partnership, but the Priorities, Goals, and Action Plans of the partnership should be an addendum to the original agreement in an attached document.

• Priorities are broad areas of focus (some might refer to these as objectives). They determine direction, serve as ultimate targets, provide the destination and represent focus areas.
• Goals are statements of intent of what you want to accomplish. They are result-focused and express an end result. Goals should be SMART: S – Specific, M – Measurable, A – Attainable, R – Realistic, T- Timed (dated).
• Action Plans are the tactics: these are things you do to accomplish the goals that have been identified for the partnership. These include the projects, activities, and events you conduct for the specific purpose of achieving the goal result. All action plans or projects involving volunteers should be designed to help the partners to develop the capacity or ability of meeting their own needs.

This strategy plan should be presented in an annual format for each year of the partnership. If it is a three year partnership, the first year needs to be very specific. Year two should be fairly specific, and year three can be general. Each year the plan should be reviewed and revised as needed.

 Procedures and Responsibilities

This section clarifies who does what, how they will do it, and to whom they relate. It should be divided into the overseas entity and the stateside partner. Clearly defined roles are essential to the overall success of the partnership. Care needs to be taken to not overburden one party or person. Since leaders can change, write the procedures in such a way that new personnel can easily understand their role in the partnership. Example:

I. <Overseas Entity> i.e., IMB _________ Team, or other

1. Volunteer requests:
   1. Will originate with the <overseas entity>
   2. <Overseas Entity> will submit a minimum of _______ project requests per year.
   3. <Overseas Entity> will submit requests for the following year no later than ______.
2. Field Orientation and De-briefing:
   1. Designated field personnel will provide appropriate field orientation when volunteers arrive.
   2. De-briefing of the volunteer’s experience will conclude each project.
   3. Each team and project will be evaluated for effectiveness and needs for change
3. Logistical Support: <People group team or other overseas entity> will ensure that local volunteers, supplies, and other logistical items are in place to assist the volunteer teams from the <stateside partner> before the team’s arrival (this section needs to spell out who will be responsible for logistical support for volunteer teams).
4. Funds:
   1. Any request for funds should be made clear in the original project request and appropriate approval channels utilized before proceeding. Safe and feasible transfer of funds from the US to the field should be planned out well in advance.

 The next post, Part 4 will conclude this guide for drafting a partnership agreement.