In the March/April issue, we spoke with Brent Finlay, the president and CEO of the Anaheim Family YMCA about creating successful partnerships with other organizations.
How does your YMCA go about selecting organizations to partner with?
BF: We have spent some months compiling a list of possible partners from companies, foundations and other not-for-profits. We look for ones to reach out to first that have corporate social responsibility (CSR) active in the city. Then we prioritize by company size and potential impact. We find a connection to some major aspect of Y programming or overall Y impact as needed.
What advice do you have for ensuring such collaborations are successful?
BF: I start from the beginning and detail we’re entering a business partnership and not a YMCA handout. We build a win-win strategy, and we seek Y board or committee involvement from a key-level person from the new partner. Also, we promote their brand at every turn and create an activation plan for each partner.
Describe a successful partnership your YMCA has had. What led to its success?
BF: We launched a new partnership with the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey league in March 2022. We created a new Y/Ducks street hockey program for year-round activation, and a middle school after-school skills program pushed out to all middle schools in market. This led to a player from the Ducks naming the Y his charity of choice for the NHLPA Play Equity Grant of $5,000 for street hockey support. Our partnership has now resulted in a $2 million capital gift. The Ducks will also build a state-of-the-art outdoor street rink at an estimated cost of $105,000 on our YMCA’s campus. We meet regularly with the Ducks Foundation team to review results and key plans for our partnership.
What’s been the biggest challenge when creating collaborations with other organizations?
BF: Maybe determining what our Y value is to each partner and what financial level of support do we ask for. How to get to the right person — we have a working strategy for that now. Creating and sustaining staff’s dedicated time to each partnership can also be a very large challenge.
