Creating a Partnerships Program

Partnerships that exist only for vanity metrics (a long list of partners) do not benefit your community. Before accepting or seeking partners, define your goals:

• Collaborative operations: Joint patrols, cross-department events, shared training exercises.
• Member growth: Mutual server advertising to aligned audiences.
• Resource sharing: Sharing design assets, guides, or operational frameworks with compatible communities.

Your partnership criteria should follow from your goals. If you want collaborative operations, you need partners who are operational — not just large.

Define minimum requirements before reviewing any partnership application:

• Minimum active membership count — not total members, but members who participate regularly.
• Operational compatibility — do they run similar department types or operate in a way that makes joint events viable?
• Conduct standards — do their rules and enforcement match your community's values?
• Stability — has the community been running for at least 30 to 60 days without significant leadership turnover?

Every partnership should have a documented agreement that both parties acknowledge:

• What each server is expected to provide — advertising posts, joint event participation, etc.
• How long the partnership lasts before review — typically 30, 60, or 90 days.
• What constitutes a violation of the agreement.
• How the partnership is dissolved if either party wants to end it.

An agreement does not need to be a formal document — a written summary in a channel or DM thread is sufficient. The point is that both parties understand what they agreed to.

Manage inbound partnership requests through a structured process:

• Create a partnership application form or a standard set of questions for requests received via DM.
• Assign a staff member responsible for reviewing applications — do not let them pile up without review.
• Set a response timeline — acknowledge applications within 48 hours, even if the decision is still pending.
• Keep a log of all applications, accepted or denied, so you have a reference if the same server applies again.

Partnerships that are accepted and then ignored waste the opportunity:

• Schedule at least one joint activity per partnership period — a shared patrol, a cross-server event, or a collaborative session.
• Conduct a brief review at the end of each partnership period. Did the partner fulfill their commitments? Did the partnership add measurable value?
• Do not renew partnerships that are inactive on both sides. Ending a partnership is not a conflict — it is operational maintenance.

Partnerships end. Handle the process with the same professionalism you applied when establishing it:

• Notify the partner leadership directly and privately before removing partnership perks or announcements.
• Give a brief, factual reason for the dissolution — inactivity, change in direction, criteria no longer met.
• Remove partnership roles, channels, and advertisements promptly after dissolution.
• Do not post public commentary about why a partnership ended. Handle it internally.