The Knott Foundation works with a broad range of organizations throughout the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Our nonprofit partners deal with many of the most urgent issues facing their communities. 2025 was a difficult year for the nonprofit community with changes in policy and funding affecting their work. As part of our grantmaking, we have interim conversations with our nonprofit partners six months into their grant award. In addition to discussing the Foundation’s grant, we are always curious to learn what key lessons they would share with their colleagues. A central theme that arose again and again in conversations last year was the value of partnership and collaboration between organizations, the communities they serve, and funders.

When it came to inter-organizational partnerships, a point mentioned in more than one conversation was how important finding the right partnership can be. While a good partnership can be a huge benefit and increase the capacity of both organizations, it was also noted that a bad partnership can create more work and drain resources. Our nonprofit partners mentioned how important the preparation and planning of any potential partnership is to the success of that partnership. This preparation can make sure the work undertaken matches the true capacity of the partnered organizations and no one partner risks overextending their staff or having growth outpace their infrastructure.

We heard from many organizations about the vital importance of developing a trusting partnership in the communities they serve. Nonprofits are a vital part of their community and many of our nonprofit partners talked about the importance of being a part of the community and showing up in ways both big and small as a neighbor. The people a nonprofit serves can play a vital role in the development of programs and policies, but it takes care and knowledge to grow and sustain the trust required for truly candid conversation. This building of trust was cited as being critical to steering programming decisions. One way this trust was shown to be beneficial was in the continual process of program evaluation. Those strong relationships help the organizations identify what is working, what is not working, and how to adjust their work depending on that feedback.

Finally, the partnership between funders and nonprofits was raised in many of these conversations. The nonprofit community is facing a turbulent time with increased demand for their services at the same time that funding opportunities are being eliminated or reduced. While the Knott Foundation is following the current landscape, our nonprofit partners are our best teachers about their day-to-day lived experiences. We heard clearly that the ability to build relationships, be transparent, and work collaboratively through challenges were deeply valued.

We left these conversations knowing more about the hard work and effort that lives between the lines of a grant proposal. We cannot express how appreciative we are of the candid insights that help guide us in our learning.

By: Jessica Feldt