Partnership Principles for a Sustainable Human Services System

As part of its mission to strengthen philanthropy and the nonprofit sector in Illinois, Donors Forum is pleased to present Fair and Accountable: Partnership Principles for a Sustainable Human Services System. This seminal document, created with the involvement of dozens of leaders and stakeholders in the human services system, recommends practices designed to strengthen the partnership between nonprofit human service providers and the City of Chicago or the State of Illinois.

"Delivering high-quality services that meet the needs of the people of Illinois depends on a fair, efficient, and transparent relationship between service providers and their government funders. Donors Forum is well positioned to help Illinois take this next important step because of our non-partisan reputation and our longstanding work to promote public policies that support philanthropy and nonprofits," said Valerie S. Lies, President and CEO of Donors Forum.

These are the basic ideas addressed in Partnership Principles:

• Comprehensive Planning. There should be a comprehensive and inclusive planning process to determine what services need to be available where.
• Transparent Selection. There should be a transparent and rational system for selecting service providers.
• Performance-Based Renewals. Contract renewals should be awarded based on performance and consumer best interest.
• Fair Payment. There should be fair payment for services and payment should be timely.
• Streamlining Reporting. There is too much waste in reporting and monitoring; these systems need to be streamlined.
• Communication. Better methods of communication among government agencies, with providers and to the public, need to be developed.

While the Partnership Principles focus on human services, the ideas have broad implications for other services provided by nonprofits and for other partnerships between the public and nonprofit sectors.