The non-profit world is just as susceptible to trends and fads as any other social or economic sector. Some of these trends bring the opportunity for meaningful change. Recognizing the sector’s reduced financial resources at a time of expanding service demands, its supporters – including providers, funders and other key stakeholders – are encouraging collaboration. The primary assumptions underlying this perspective are that collaborations help to break down service silos, increase efficiencies, and leverage dollars across participating agencies. Agencies may choose to collaborate for a variety of reasons, including to respond to specific funding opportunities or to provide additional services to their clients. While collaborations are exceptionally attractive on a theoretical basis, there are numerous obstacles to their successful implementation and even more to their long-term sustainability. When appropriately planned and implemented, a collaboration can have a significant impact on clients, partnering agencies and the overall community. This brief is intended to give service providers who are contemplating collaborations the knowledge and tools they need to create robust, sustainable partnerships that benefit their communities as well as each participating agency. We hope that the ten principles will provide practical guideposts for organizations that are considering or planning collaborative partnerships. Further, organizations that have already embarked on this work, and have encountered one or more of the challenges described in this brief, may find the suggestions helpful.