Collaboration, Innovation, and Fundraising

In this episode of The First Day from The Fundraising School, host Bill Stanczykiewicz, Ed.D., sits down with Muhsin Hassan, Managing Director at Lever for Change, to unpack the power, and practicality, of nonprofit collaboration. Drawing from his role advising the Community Collaboration Initiative led by the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Hassan explains why partnerships aren’t just nice-to-have, they’re mission multipliers. From maximizing impact during economic downturns to sparking innovation across issue areas, collaboration can create better ideas, stronger fundraising, and more efficient service delivery. Hassan shares how the initiative brought together 21 Muslim-led nonprofits from across the U.S., ranging from local to national reach, to explore shared solutions. The three-year effort wasn’t donor-driven from the top down, but intentionally designed to listen to community needs and prioritize equity among partners. Common threads emerged between seemingly different missions: healthcare access, education, civic engagement, and refugee support leading to big-picture strategies like “one-stop shop” service models for new Americans. And yes, there was a built-in incentive: each participating organization received a $250,000 grant to implement their collaborative plans. The conversation digs into what makes collaborations work: intentional design, time to build trust, and intermediaries who handle logistics so nonprofits can focus on the work. The CCI team acted as that connective tissue, setting agendas, facilitating conversations, and ensuring equity between grantees and donors. This created space for candid dialogue, something that doesn’t always happen in traditional philanthropy, and fostered genuine partnerships rather than compliance-driven alliances. Challenges? Of course. Some organizations realized the timing wasn’t right and bowed out gracefully, underscoring the need for flexibility and openness to think beyond one’s own program lane. Hassan closes with advice for any nonprofit, regardless of cause area or cultural context; there are always lessons to learn from others. Whether you share a target population or simply share the nonprofit experience, collaboration offers unexpected insights and fresh approaches. Skeptics often leave such partnerships with new allies, new knowledge, and stronger strategies. The key is creating opportunities for cross-sector dialogue, maintaining equity among all players, and giving collaborations the time, and resources, to thrive. The full white paper, Collaboration in the U.S. Muslim Nonprofit Sector: Lessons from the Community Collaboration Initiative, is available at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy’s Muslim Philanthropy Initiative page.