Note
Before reading further, see our guide to working with other organisations.
- what is a joint venture?
- when a joint venture is appropriate, and
- your organisation's obligations under a joint venture agreement
- General partnerships are where all the partners are equally responsible for the operations and management of the partnership and each partner could be responsible and liable for all of the partnership’s activities alone if other partners are unable to pay.
- Limited partnerships have two types of partners - general partners and limited partners. A general partner is described above and has more responsibility and liability compared to a limited partner that will only be liable to the amount of agreed contribution to the partnership.
- Limited liability partnerships are normally used for larger professional service businesses and are generally not suitable for not-for-profit organisations.
- the names of the partners
- the obligations and liabilities of the partners to contribute to money, assets and any project costs of the partnership
- how distribution of donations or assets will be managed
- how decisions of the partners will be made
- the management and administration of the partnership including annual meetings
- any powers delegated to committees and the responsibilities of those committees
- how the partners will resolve disputes
- restrictions on the sale of a partnership interest, and
- the duration of the partnership and termination of the partnership
More information
NCOSS - Formalising Partnerships Resource Kit This kit is designed to be used by small to medium organisations in a workshop context with other organisations, or within their own organisations (for example, in discussion between the management committee and staff) to resource a step by step planning process to form a partnership.
VicHealth - Partnerships analysis tool While the focus of this resource is on the health sector the general principles of the tool applies across sectors.
