Build Volunteer & Partner Pipeline

[opengov-africa]

Develop a sustainable pool of contributors and collaborators.

Tasks

• Track active contributors
• Identify potential long-term volunteers
• Identify potential partner organizations
• Create contributor pipeline tracker
• Document outreach opportunities

@OpenGovAfrica/wg-community-managers

[CamiloJ71]

Hi @opengov-africa, I’d like to clarify what criteria I should use to identify potential partner organizations.

Should we focus on alignment with our mission, capacity to support long-term collaboration, or their existing networks and resources?

Also, do we currently have a company Notion workspace where we can centralize all our data and lists?

Your guidance will help me prioritize effectively.

[kabiratismail20-star]

@opengov-africa

Hi @opengov-africa, I’d like to clarify what criteria I should use to identify potential partner organizations.

Should we focus on alignment with our mission, capacity to support long-term collaboration, or their existing networks and resources?

Also, do we currently have a company Notion workspace where we can centralize all our data and lists?

Your guidance will help me prioritize effectively.

[opengov-africa]

Thanks @CamiloJ71 & @kabiratismail20-star for this.

Another reason we need @OpenGovAfrica/wg-projects-programs to actively follow up on pending tasks.

Going forward, if there’s no response within 48 hours:

• Send a reminder to the assignee
• Escalate by asking the assigned team PM to share the task/update link in the focus Discord channel
• Tag @OpenGovAfrica/wg-leads-pm for visibility and support

This will help us maintain momentum and avoid tasks slipping through the cracks.

—

Hi @CamiloJ71 great question, and thanks for raising this.

We should keep partnerships flexible and inclusive, but still structured so they’re useful.

So yes, you can absolutely consider a wide range of groups:

• Colleges and universities
• Student communities
• Parent or local community groups
• Civic-minded collectives
• Organizations working around governance, even loosely

However, instead of applying one strict definition, use this as your guiding filter:

1. Alignment (required for all)

They should have a clear interest in:

• Good governance
• Civic engagement
• Transparency / accountability

Even if informal, the intent should be obvious.

2. Contribution potential (very important)

Ask: what can they realistically contribute?

• People (volunteers, students, researchers)
• Platform (events, communities, local reach)
• Visibility (amplification, awareness)
• Knowledge or local context

If there’s no clear contribution angle, don’t prioritize them.

3. Level of structure (for classification, not exclusion)

Not all will be “formal partners,” and that’s fine. You can still include them, just categorize them based on how structured or engaged they are.

Tools / Workspace

We don’t use Notion at the moment.

Use:

• Google Workspace → for maintaining lists (e.g., partner pipeline in Sheets)
• GitHub Projects → for tracking progress (Identified → Contacted → Active, etc.)