Flickr Photo: _ES NTEN doesn't really have a water cooler, but we like to think the NTEN Discuss group serves a similar purpose for folks working with nonprofits and technology, except that instead of gossip about the boss, we share tips, resources, and anecdotes.

Yesterday there was a great discussion about how to get the Communications department to coordinate with the Fundraising department on online and email campaigns. The discussion was spurred on by a question from Michael Hoffman, from See3:

". . . how [do] other organizations create a balance between the Communications and the Fundraising departments when it comes to online initiatives. How should Communications and Fundraising interact without having turf battles?"

Even if your nonprofit's "departments" are just comprised of single staff persons -- like here at NTEN -- getting these folks on the same page is important and often tough. Here's what the NTEN Discuss group had to say:

Gabriela Fritz from IssueLab says that she's had quarterly or semi-annual meetings to bring the communications and fundraising folks to the same table with calendars to:

• "...plan how they can support each other's campaigns. This includes things such as how email newsletters sent by communications can build on and support campaigns being run by the fundraising department. I have done this at a level of detail that includes outlining how each tool (enewsletters, web site, media outreach, direct mail, annual report, etc.) fits into the campaign and what the key messages would be for both donors and non-donors."

Norman Reiss, who talks about this issue quite a bit, suggests that:

• "It helps if departments are encouraged to get to know what each area does, possibly by a series of 'show and tell' events. Since most nonprofits don't yet have a specific area which handles ephilanthropy type initiatives, it's important that management develop an environment where departments regularly mix, even if it starts with social events during lunch and off hours. "
  

Charles Lenchner, Marc Osten, and Dick Myers all homed in on organizational structures/cultures that lead to a lack of collaboration in the first place.

• Charles referenced senior staff competition and lack of organizational investment in new ideas, staff, or tools as general impediments in organizations.
• Marc suggested spending time finding where roadblocks to collaboration are and who the right people within the organization are to overcome them.
• Dick pulled from a specific success story about an organization that tackled the structure/culture problem head-on and described a multi-step, multi-year effort: "Eventually, the key ingredient that made the whole process work . . . was a top down management assessment of the organization's mission. The next step was to translate the results of the mission assessment into a revised business operations model."

What are some of the stories from your workplace about cross-departmental collaboration with online campaigns? Leave a comment or join the discussion in our online community!