I cannot agree more with Elise.  In our partnership efforts; it is an important concept in the forming of long term strategic relationsips.  I speak to food banks and other potential partners on a regular basis and am always pleased when the words mission, vision and values are at the forefront of our conversations.  It makes it so much easier to talk about commonalities and what the expectations are for all of the parties coming to the table.  When the conversation ends with entitlement only, I can usually make a prediction on the success of the relationship.  Kudos Elise, for talking about how things are changing and how successful relationships are not only formulated, but sustained.

Since 1935, Tyson has been feeding America. Over the past 26 years, their support of America's Second Harvest has resulted in the donation of protein enriched food to thousands of families in need. Our new name will be officially launched later this year.

How appropriate that Tyson will continue to be feeding America and doing so partly through the new "Feeding America" organization. We're grateful for the past support and excited about the increased visibility of this new name and its value to our business partners.

Tyson Angels,

Three Square in Las Vegas was the very grateful recipient of 35,000  pounds of Tyson generosity. 

As a new Food Bank, receiving a donation from a giant like Tyson gave us great credibility.  Your employees Billy McGreevey and Suzie Kaupp were outstanding and assisted us tremendously in making our community knowlegable of Three Square.

The publicity on our local news stations brought so much awareness to Tyson and their Mission.  I had folks calling for days asking about the donation.  The questions were endless:  Did they REALLY donate that much meat?  Is it true they do this all over the country?  Was the statement correct that says Tyson Foods is the world's largest provider or chicken, beef and porK?  Many (including myself) thought of Tyson as a provider of chicken products only.  I directed all who inquired with questions to your incredible website so they could see for themselves.

The agencies we service, the friends we shared the story with, our employees  ~ all have a new allegiance to purchasing Tyson products.

I cannot imagine the cost of such a magnificent donation, but I know the good that it did for our community AND the PR and awareness it brought for your fabulous company.  I don't know if that could ever be measured in dollars.

Bless you for your generosity  You have discovered the key to showing the world you can be a smart business and still take care of those in need.  Tyson Foods is a shining example for all to follow.

In gratitude,

Terri Lawson

Food Resource Manager

Three Square

Thanks, for those kind words, Terri and Randy.  We're honestly not fishing for  compliments here, but always sincerely grateful when we get them.

You both come from the non-profit side, one with with an organization that's been around and has established, long-term partnerships, and one that's very young.  From your respective points of view, what are the things that make a partnership work well?  What makes you feel secure, and in what kind of situations do you find yourself constantly wondering whether the support will be around next month?

All I can add to the above is the importance of both partners being willing to invest in both measuring and communicating the impact of the partnership.  There is expense involved in doing so, and it may seem hard to justify relative to getting more food to more people, in an anti-hunger intiiative for example, but in the long run it will yield even greater impact if the employees of a socially engaged company have a sense of the many tangible ways in which their engagement has changed and saved lives.  We've certainly seen this at Share Our Strength as a result of Tyson's long record of generosity.  Thanks to all for such a substantive discussion.

Thanks, Billy

I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge how much those of us at Tyson have learned from you and SOS about partnerships in the past 8 years.

For those of you who haven't read the James Austin book I mentioned in my earlier post, Billy (the founder of Share Our Strength) and his organization are referred to as prominent examples several times in the book. 

Billy has inspired and motivated tens of thousands of people toward effecting positive social change through his books, his letters and his personal example.

We're honored to have you comment here, Billy. 

For more information about Share Our Strength, and to read some of what Billy has written, check out these links:

http://www.strength.org/

http://www.strength.org/childhood_hunger/letters/

http://www.sharingwitness.org/

Billy is right. Measurement is one of the critical components of a sustainable partnership. I have to know if something is working in order to have a good case for continuing the investment.