CORE Partnership Principles

What makes a good partner?

I’m often asked if I have any favorites among the grants we send out. Usually the question is framed like this: “I know you’re probably not supposed to have any favorite grantees, but do you anyway?” And of course my answer is always a diplomatic “No, we treat all our grantees the same.” But must that be the case? Or should foundation leaders be allowed to have favorites?

I think we are allowed to have favorites, as long as we don’t play favorites. In other words, while we do need to treat all our partners the same, there absolutely are better and worse partners in the grantmaking world, and my favorite grants to give are the ones that go to our best partners.

So what makes a good partner?

When I speak about partnership, I identify what I call the four CORE issues: Communication, Observation, Relationship, and Empathy. These four are very much intertwined with and dependent on one another—the most effective communication takes place in the context of a relationship, and a relationship becomes a partnership only in the presence of mutual empathy, which is based on each partner’s observation about what’s happening in the world, which again leads back to communication in the context of relationship.

I break these down further into eight principles of biblical partnership based primarily on Philippians 1. Fitting the full list of eight into this CORE matrix will have to wait for another time (or a book chapter, perhaps), but here let me expand briefly on some of the ways the CORE paradigm plays out among my favorite partners.

Communication. My favorite grantees are the ones I hear from regularly. We receive proposals from our grantees every year, and every grant requires a follow-up report, and we try to have at least one additional Zoom or in-person meeting with organizational leaders during the year. That’s a reasonable minimum when it comes to communication. The partners who fall into the “favorite” category are the ones who shoot me emails or call from time to time to ask how things are going on our end, or to let us know ways we can pray for them, or to give me an update, or to ask or answer a question from a previous communication. I’m not talking about weekly fundraising emails or quarterly ministry reports; I’m talking about genuine, meaningful, interpersonal communication between leaders.

Observation. I really like to know what our partners are seeing and what they’re thinking about what’s happening in the world. Trend analysis is an important part of the work we do as a foundation, and we rely heavily on our partners to help provide perspective. It’s also important for me to know that our partners are aware of and keeping track of opportunities in their ministry areas. That’s why my favorite partners also tend to be the most observant—and the ones who most effectively communicate about their observations in our meetings, phone calls, and email exchanges. And by the way, part of being observant is also being aware of how much communication is too much.

Relationship. With so many active grantees (approximately 200 per year), it’s impossible for me to meet with all of them on a yearly basis, much less visit every organization even every few years. I have to prioritize where I’m focusing my time, and that means prioritizing strong relationships over weak (or nonexistant) ones. My favorite grants are those we send to organizations led by individuals who have become friends over the course of our partnership. Communication and observation happen most naturally when there’s a strong relational foundation in place, so we put a lot of effort into forming and strengthening relationships with our grantees.

Empathy. The best partners are the ones who really understand each other and can at least make a good attempt at viewing the world through each other’s eyes. That doesn’t mean good partners always agree with each other, but it does mean they can dialogue in the midst of disagreement. Leaders who always agree (or pretend to agree) with potential funders are not good partners; leaders who can lovingly say, “I see your point, and here’s why my perspective is different,” generally are.

There’s much more I could say about partnership, but as we get ready for the THF board meeting next week, keeping these four CORE principles in mind should give you at least an idea of which grants are going to be my favorites. Yes, we treat everyone the same. No, we don’t play favorites. But do I have favorite grantees? I do—the ones who are great partners.

Here’s what’s happening.

Training Teachers in Argentina
I was first introduced to Marisol Gomez a couple of years ago by Greg Needham, president of TeachBeyond. I told Greg about our desire to invest in local leaders and asked him who from his international network would be a good person for me to get to know. Right away he recommended Marisol as a superstar trainer of trainers who is doing great work in Argentina. I met with Marisol on Zoom in October 2023, and then she and her husband, Alan, came to visit Tyndale in September 2024. She told me about Instituto Superior Moody, a training facility that consistently churns out excellent teachers who are working from a solidly Christian framework to improve Argentina’s notoriously deficient education system. When I asked her how Tyndale could help her, she told me the teachers she was training were struggling because they had to use old, barely functional computers. In November 2024, the THF board authorized a special grant of $20,000 for Instituto Moody to purchase 24 new computers and 4 projectors. When the new school year began just last week, Marisol reported, “The opening ceremony was packed with students and family, and we had the opportunity to showcase the computers and projectors that Tyndale donated. The students were amazed, and you can’t imagine the reaction of the technology professor—she couldn’t believe she would have access to her own lab for the students! Thank you and everyone at Tyndale for your support!”

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Free Speech Threatened in the UK
I don’t often report on politically charged stories, and THF does not typically get involved in politically charged issues, but occasionally I feel the need to make an exception. Stop reading now if that’s going to be a trigger for you. Last week, a 64-year-old woman named Livia Tossica-Bolt was convicted by a magistrate’s court in the UK for breaching a Public Spaces Protection Order. The PSPO, established in 2022, prohibits activities that could influence or distress clients or workers in abortion facilities. Such “harmful” activities include demonstrating or protesting within a designated buffer zone around abortion clinics. Livia was not protesting but was holding a sign that said, “Here to talk, if you want.” She was arrested, found guilty of “impacting clinic visitors and staff,” and fined £20,000 in legal costs. In response, the US State Department expressed concerns about freedom of expression in the UK. Livia is being represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, a THF grantee. Paul Coleman, executive director of ADF’s international arm, wrote, “What has happened to Livia is a grave violation of the basic right to free expression. No one should be criminalized for peacefully offering to talk to people on a public street. This is not how free and democratic countries should function.” I imagine there are people in the extended Tyndale family who will disagree regarding the morality of abortion, but that’s not really at issue here. The reason THF partners with ADF is because of cases like this, where curtailments on one person’s freedom are an indication of potential threats to freedom more generally. Please pray that justice will prevail for Livia Tossica-Bolt and that leaders in the UK (and the US, for that matter) will allow biblical wisdom rather than political expediency to dictate their decisions.

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Food Security Threatened in Malawi
In March of 2023, Cyclone Freddy devastated the southern part of Malawi, destroying a season of crops for subsistence farmers in the southeastern African nation. Anticipating that food shortages would be a problem in the storm’s aftermath, THF partner Pamoza International asked Tyndale to consider participating in the creation of a food bank and grain storage system. THF responded with an emergency grant in April 2023, and the food bank was started the very next month. Unfortunately, severe weather events are not unusual in Malawi. On January 17 of this year, another major storm swept through southern Malawi, destroying homes and wiping out crops, including 13,000 pounds of stored maize, a vital food source. At the end of March, in the final week of Tyndale’s fiscal year, the THF Executive Committee authorized another emergency grant to Pamoza to help restock the food supplies and rebuild homes. Temwa Wright, Pamoza’s executive director, wrote last week, “My heart was full of gratitude and joy when we received communication of the special grant to support our food-security initiatives in Malawi. It has been a challenging year, but God is faithful, and he is using people like you to answer the prayers we have been desperately praying. On behalf of the families we serve, I say thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

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THF Board Meeting Next Week
On Wednesday and Thursday of next week (April 16 and 17), the THF board will meet to allocate grants for the first cycle of the new fiscal year (which started for Tyndale one week ago today). Regular readers of the THF Weekly Briefing will know that we have six grantmaking categories (Compassion, Discipleship, Education, Literature, Local, and Training), and we anticipate awarding grants in each of these areas. Over the past month, board members have been reviewing more than 80 proposals, each of which was previously reviewed in detail by the staff. We’ve been praying for the applying organizations and keeping in touch with them throughout the process as well. This week, staff will be pulling together reports from last fiscal year’s grantmaking, analyzing trends, and reviewing budgets. Board meeting always ends up being the culmination of a ton of very hard work. They’re also an emotional and spiritual high point in the year, as we get to prayerfully engage with so many amazing organizations and projects. I’m extremely grateful for the efforts of the THF staff and board in the grantmaking process and for the strong publishing performance this past year that means there will be more funds available to send out. I’m constantly mindful of the legacy of generosity that all of us at Tyndale are stewarding, and I thank God for the immense privilege of partnering with so many dedicated organizations and leaders who are meeting people’s physical and spiritual needs all over the world.

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That’s it for this week’s briefing. Please send any questions, comments, and candidates for new favorite partners to [email protected]. I send out this email resource most weeks primarily for a Tyndale audience, but you should feel free to share it with others who may be interested, inside or outside of Tyndale. Thanks for continuing to pray for and support our partners around the world.

Jeremy Taylor
President | Tyndale House Foundation

The THF Weekly Briefing provides information about significant events happening in the wide universe of Tyndale House Foundation partner organizations as well as an occasional peek behind the scenes of THF’s operations. It is available to anyone at Tyndale who’s interested in learning more about the Foundation side of the organization. Was this email forwarded to you? Contact [email protected] to be added to (or removed from) the distribution list.