Outsider Alert!

There are three ways community organizers approach a community and possible external resources. 

One, let the community know that outside resources are crucial to any possibility of success and that without some major assistance or dealmaking with external parties success in reaching any community goals would be unlikely. 

Two, reinforce any and all suspicions the community may have of external parties and counsel rejection of any overtures to the community from the outside.

Three, facilitate negotiations with external parties if the community sees potential advantages, and help get valid guarantees against any unethical practices that can harm the community in any way. Also help fend off external approaches that the community is convinced are malicious at some level. 

The adversarial-orientation of some community organizers is adaptive at times and dysfunctional at others. A good consensus organizer doesn't push a point of view, but takes cues from the community and applies skills as they can further the success of reaching goals the community has developed via processes as close to consensus as possible. Once that bonding has created a community prepared to do more effective outward-facing negotiations, a good consensus organizer will assist in developing the bridging relationships that can benefit the community.

In short, grappling with the questions surrounding partnerships with outside groups or people is sometimes eliciting enough to explore the possibilities thought impossible until now. Acknowledging the high barriers and risks and asking, So, can we think of any way that being in partnership with that company can help us without any serious risks? 

Some dialog coaches or community organizers call this eliciting process a query into the "magic wand" ideation that can prompt actual creativity without any imagined constraints, just an aspirational vision. If the community can imagine no risk-free way to make such a partnership succeed, even on a limited basis, it is likely that such a discernment process will produce a more unified rejection and some deeper consideration of some of the variables that may not have emerged previously. It is also very likely that one or more community members will feel that they have contributed valuable insights to their neighbors, which continues the process of cohesion and asset mapping.