Office for Victims of Crime – Human Trafficking Capacity Building Center

WORKING TOGETHER FOR VICTIMS

BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS

The Power of Partnerships

Organizations often partner together to achieve shared goals. Partnerships can broaden and improve 

the assistance available to victims of all forms of human trafficking and link clients to services not 

available from the primary service provider. By working together, partnering organizations offer service 

referrals and can collaborate in training, advocacy, and fundraising opportunities. A strong partnership 

can enhance both the quality and quantity of services offered to victims of human trafficking. 

Partnership Organizations

Partnerships vary in size, involving nonprofit, for-profit, 

faith-based organizations, and government 

organizations. Building strong community partnerships 

can benefit all victims of human trafficking and are

most successful when they are mutually beneficial. 

Partnerships may include relationships between— 

• Multiple service provider organizations.1

• Public agencies2 and a service provider 

organization.

• Local businesses and a local service provider 

organization.

• Academic institutions and a local service 

provider organization.

• Donor organizations and recipient organizations.

Building Partnerships 

Building a Partnership

TYPES OF PARTNERSHIPS 

Collaboration – Establish referral agreements 

to share information about service offerings 

and partner to deliver a broader range of client 

services. Partner to meet a grant match 

requirement through supplies, volunteers, or 

services to support project implementation.

Task Force or a Multi-Disciplinary Response 

Team – Victim service providers and partners 

create a structure to achieve program objects. 

Funding – Receive a donation or grant; 

recipient organizations or multiple partner 

organizations share funding; the partnership is 

between a donor and a recipient organization. 

1 Service provider organizations may include domestic violence and sexual assault, labor rights, and culturally specific advocacy organizations.

2 Public agencies may include a civil legal organization; federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies; federal, state, local and tribal 

prosecutors; and government agencies at all levels.
WORKING TOGETHER FOR VICTIMS – BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS 

Office for Victims of Crime – Human Trafficking Capacity Building Center

Knowing what is needed prior to seeking a partnership can help determine which partnerships will be 

most helpful to an organization.3 Follow these steps when seeking a partner organization— 

• Identify organizational needs or gaps in service delivery that could be addressed through assistance 

from other entities.

• Assess organizational strengths and weaknesses, including assets, services, or expertise that could 

benefit or hinder a partner organization.

• Identify potential partner organizations with a shared mission and/or goal.

• Contact potential partner organizations to determine interest and if shared goals can be best achieved 

by working together.

• Consider a funder (corporate, nonprofit, foundation) to support the work and achieve a mutually 

beneficial goal; reach out and make the request.

• Create a subgrantee relationship with another organization where one is the "lead" organization 

responsible for program deliverables and grant management, and a second organization is a "subgrantee" solely responsible for grant deliverables. 

• Determine how a partnership will operate, including identifying roles and responsibilities for each 

organization, decision making, protocols and procedures, and expected outcome(s).

• Develop protocols for communication, resource and knowledge management, decision making, and 

conflict resolution. 

• Create a partnership work plan to structure work and assess performance. 

• Culminate the start of a partnership through a written agreement between organizations (e.g., 

memorandum of understanding or a letter of agreement), specifying roles and responsibilities, 

management, and operating structure. 

• Maintain reasonable expectations for partnership benefits and outcomes. 

• Invest in long-term relationships with partner organization.

Additional Information

Community-Based Partnerships

Partnerships: Frameworks for Working Together

3 Please refer to the developing a network document available from the Center for more information.