Evaluating New Partners in Global Missions
If you’re currently evaluating new partners for global missions for your church or organization, it’s important to recognize that you are part of a larger whole, and the partnerships you choose will shape the impact you make.
Evaluating partnerships requires a willingness to ask questions and a curiosity that allows you to seek answers with humility. The questions below can provide clarity. They help both you and your partner understand potential risks, benefits and each side’s role. Ideally, this process is reciprocal, marked by open and honest dialogue.
Assessing the fit of a new partnership typically involves the following three stages:
STAGE 1
Asking a series of basic questions
STAGE 2
Initiating a shorter-term project, with time limits
STAGE 3
Partnering in a longer-term, more involved project
Each of these stages includes a time of assessment with the opportunity to decide whether to pursue the partnership. We’ve provided a helpful checklist for you to review along the way as you evaluate the long-term fit of any global missions partnership on behalf of vulnerable children and families.
Ready to dive deeper?
Learn more about effective short-term missions in Mission Wise and explore more resources from the CAFO Research Center.
Your Checklist to Evaluating New Partnerships
Would our partnership be beneficial to the children and families we serve? How would children and families benefit? Is the partnership foremost about their good?
Does our potential partner adhere to a Child Protection Policy? It is appropriate to ask to review their policy. Avoiding harm to children is paramount to all work with vulnerable children and families. (If you want to learn how to develop a Child Protection Policy, check out CAFO’s Child Protection course at academy.cafo.org.)
Does our potential partner know their aims? Do they have a mission statement, vision statement, and objectives?
How do they represent their work and the people they serve? Ask to be on their communication list, and follow the program on social media. Do they represent their work (and their role in it) honestly? Do they represent the people they serve with dignity?
Do multiple people from our organization believe this partnership is a good idea? Is only one person leading the charge? Is there consensus among our leadership? Is the potential partner legally registered? We want to ensure any potential partners are registered with the appropriate local, regional, and national authorities. If not, why not? Are they willing to become registered? If not, why not?
Does our potential partner have accountability in place? Do they have a board or other governing body? How are they accountable for finances? How are they accountable for program goals and objectives? How are they accountable to donors?
Does the internet reveal anything that concerns you? The internet can be a valuable tool for learning information a potential partner might not provide. Learning about the program, staff, and board from a website may provide insights. Reviewing social media accounts of the program or key leaders may inform the questions you want to ask.
What references do they have? Do you have any contacts in common whom you could talk with? Can you talk to a current partner to learn more about their experience? What is their reputation in their local community?
What would we offer to the partnership? How does partnering with this organization align with our vision and values? How does it allow us to build the Kingdom in the ways God has invited us to?
Caring well for children and families requires both compassion and wisdom. As you consider your next steps, remember that even small shifts in how we serve can strengthen families, support communities and contribute to lasting impact.
The CAFO Research Center improves the quality of care for vulnerable children and families by connecting the best available knowledge to frontline practice within Christian organizations worldwide.
