Collaboration is a core value of Plant With Purpose, and is deeply embedded in how we operate at every level. Deep collaboration between our local staff and partnering farmers is at the forefront of our daily impact, and is essential to our growth across 71 watersheds in nine countries. Through collaboration between Plant With Purpose staff, partnering farmers, watershed communities, like-minded NGOs, and funding foundations, lives and land are actively being restored every day.

I personally have the privilege of collaborating closely with the Plant With Purpose U.S. team, which has grown to 47 people—more than double the size when I started over nine years ago. I am continually deeply inspired by my colleagues and largely credit them with my ongoing learning and development, which extends well beyond the professional realm! Every Tuesday, a rotation of internal teams lead an all-staff training. These trainings are a wonderful way to shine a spotlight on a department’s contribution and demonstrate how every thread (programs, accounting, marketing, monitoring and evaluation, fundraising, etc.) is woven together. Without fail, I leave the trainings having learned something new and with a greater appreciation for my colleagues.

In my role as Associate Director of Philanthropy, I witness firsthand the strength of our collaboration with our global team and key funding partners Many of them have walked with us for decades, encouraging our growth and connecting us with further resources. As a learning organization that deeply values innovation, we know we have never “arrived” at the perfect solution to rural poverty and deforestation. Our programmatic model was quite different 15 years ago – for example, back then we were still conducting traditional microcredit lending. The Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) methodology we use today was already being used successfully by many other organizations. After our Country Director of Tanzania witnessed its success, she recommended it to the organization, and it was adopted with our funding partners’ support. Making this change has been a game-changer for our overall impact – today we have 4,600 active Purpose Groups globally, holding over $11.5 million USD in equity! This change didn’t happen in a vacuum. It was a direct result of collaboration with everyone of our global team from other international NGOs to our partners here in the US.

Sometimes we adopt best practices from other organizations, and at times we are the ones to design a new way of doing things. For example, our signature Watershed Model, which was established along with our program in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2015, has had a ripple effect across the environmental sector. Five years ago, we saw an increase in donors who give specifically to plant trees through our program. Our $1 per tree model is simple and compelling, but it’s only a small part of our ultimate goal: broad restoration across entire watersheds. As we have built close relationships with these environmental funders, it has been a joy to collaborate toward a holistic vision of flourishing. As this vision gathers momentum, peer organizations are making similar transitions. When we collaborate, our impact has a ripple effect both throughout the nonprofit world and throughout watershed communities.

I love the expression “a rising tide lifts all boats,” because it reminds us that when we collaborate, we are all collectively lifted. What a gift that our learning is never done, and that we always have the opportunity to grow! We also know that God’s love is endless—this is not a zero-sum game. As we focus on abundance, rather than scarcity, we can share and collaborate more freely to move everyone toward the restoration of land and lives.