Our Partnerships

Creating change together

Sustainability as a movement is picking up pace and we are certainly not alone in the strive for a more just and sustainable world. On our way, we deem it very important to join forces, exchange perspectives, receive and offer support to like-minded organizations and individuals. It is important for us to maintain a friendly, open-minded, learning-oriented relationship with everyone we partner up with - and this is also one criterion for us to enter a partnership or not.

Beyond that, partner organizations/individuals should align with our ethical guideline and respect the planetary boundaries in their work (see sustainability definition). It also must be clear how they strive to work towards sustainability, and how working together can bring value to everyone involved. Of course, there are different reasons and functions a partnership can address. Therefore, we introduced a threefold differentiation to clarify how we work together:

oikos' partners	Friends	Collaborators	Donors
Who	Individuals, private & public organizations	Individuals, private & public organizations	Individuals, private & public organizations
Why	To broaden network & indicate affiliation & shared vision	To foster deeper relationships that lead to new possibilities	To sustain the organization & empower the network
Shared Value	mainly exchange & dissemination of opportunities through agreed channels logo on website	potentially all mentioned before invitation & participation in events & initiatives shared initiatives on several levels to leverage our common impact ongoing, strategic conversation & invitation to strategic processes	potentially all mentioned before Financial and in-kind support to oikos in form of individual & institutional donations

How do we coordinate partnerships

Partnerships require internal cooperation between several team members, depending on the individual case. A process from initial contact to the manifestation of a partnership (eg. in a MOU) can vary from 1 call to 2 years. partnerships currently are rather established based on eed ( of team or community) and/or chance/exploration in a certain moment where we meet a new potential partner through other friends of ours. It is mainly the president & board member(s) with the partnership role(s) who steward the processes, involving other team members if needed or helpful. We coordinate partnerships with the help of the partnership list and our CRM system salesforce. There, you can also find potential partners and other partnership opportunities. The partnership domain is being revised and updated beginning of 2022, being further developed with trainings and tools for the team. Learn more in the partnership field guide