Sample Collaboration Readiness Report
What your report will look like, built from example answers for a fictional county tourism office. You get the same sections: Key Takeaways, Your Readiness at a Glance, Your Top Priorities, What’s Holding You Back, What’s Working and What Collaboration Could Unlock.
This Is a Sample Report
Built from example answers for a fictional county tourism office with a team of two or three. Your report will reflect your own answers.
Sample Collaboration Readiness Report
Prepared for Sample County Tourism. Where you stand with neighboring organizations, what’s in the way, and next steps sized to your team.
Key Takeaways
Overall you’re at the Building stage, with a score of 42 out of 100. You have some of the pieces. A small, low-risk project with one partner will show what works.
Start here: Share One Thing You Already Make With a Neighbor.
Your strongest area is Relationships. Capacity needs the most work.
The biggest thing in the way, in your words: already at capacity.
You weren’t sure about 2 statements. Finding out is a quick win, and the answers will sharpen this report.
Your Readiness at a Glance
Each area gets one of four stages, based on how much you agreed with its statements. Not sure and Doesn’t apply answers aren’t scored.
1. ExploringScore under 40Getting to know your neighbors. No joint project yet.
2. BuildingScore 40 to 59Some pieces in place. Ready for a small, low-risk project with one partner.
3. ReadyScore 60 to 79Ready for a defined joint project with a start, an end and a shared goal.
4. LeadingScore 80 and overIn a position to convene other offices and lead a regional effort.
OverallScore 42 of 100, the average of your scored areas. You have some of the pieces. A small, low-risk project with one partner will show what works.
RelationshipsYou described your relationships as informal, with nothing structured. Score 67 of 100. You agreed with 2 of 3 statements. Neutral on 1.To reach Leading: move “Met neighboring directors this year” up to Strongly agree.
CapacityScore 17 of 100. You agreed with 0 of 3 statements. Disagreed on: room to say yes; someone to own a partnership; never passed on an opportunity.To reach Building: move “Never passed on an opportunity” up to Agree.
InfrastructureScore 50 of 100. You agreed with 1 of 3 statements. Disagreed on: visitor data ready to share. Not sure on 1.To reach Ready: move “Visitor data ready to share” up to Agree.
AlignmentScore 50 of 100. You agreed with 1 of 3 statements. Disagreed on: an idea that needs partners. Neutral on 1.To reach Ready: move “An idea that needs partners” up to Agree.
LeadershipScore 25 of 100. You agreed with 0 of 2 statements. Disagreed on: an internal champion. Not sure on 1.To reach Building: move “An internal champion” up to Agree.
Your Top Priorities
The next steps we’d take in your place, in order. Quick Wins take a few hours and no budget. Bigger Lifts need a partner’s agreement or your board’s support.
1
CapacityQuick Win
Share One Thing You Already Make With a Neighbor
Why: You named “already at capacity” as the hardest thing in the way.
How to start: Pick something you already produce, such as an events list, a photo folder or a press list, and swap it with one neighbor each month, so each of you does less. Keep it small enough that one person can carry it alongside everything else.
2
LeadershipQuick Win
Name a Partnership Champion and Give Them a Standing Check-In
Why: You disagreed that you have a clear internal champion for collaboration.
How to start: Choose the person who cares most about regional work, even if they’re part time, and give it ten minutes at every staff meeting.
3
InfrastructureBigger Lift
Put Your Key Visitor Numbers on One Page
Why: You disagreed that your visitor data is organized well enough to share with a partner.
How to start: Pull together numbers you already have, such as lodging tax, website visits, visitor guide requests and event attendance, for the last two years. A partner or a grant will ask for this first.
Resources to look at: Your lodging tax reports; your website analytics; your state tourism office’s county data
4
CapacityQuick Win
Pick a First Project That Costs Nothing
Why: You checked “no budget for joint work” as something in the way.
How to start: Start with steps that cost nothing: swapping content, cross-promoting events, sharing a photo library. Many grants also favor regional applications.
5
LeadershipBigger Lift
Bring Your Board a One-Page Case for One Joint Project
Why: You weren’t sure whether your board or funders would support investing in regional work.
How to start: Show the staff time it takes, what it could unlock, such as a grant that requires regional partners, and how you’ll report results. Ask to try it for six months.
What’s Holding You Back
What you told us, hardest first, with a first step for each.
What gets in the way
Already at capacity (hardest)
Pick collaboration that removes work, like sharing one events calendar or splitting a print run, before anything that adds meetings.
No budget for joint work
Start with steps that cost nothing: swapping content, cross-promoting events, sharing a photo library. Many grants also favor regional applications.
Competition with nearby destinations
Visitors don’t see county lines. Start with something that sends visitors both ways, like a two-county itinerary, so neither side loses.
Turnover on our county board
You added this one. Ask a neighboring director how they’ve handled it; the Community Forum is a good place to start.
Where your current collaboration struggles
Not enough staff time
Joint grant applications
Shrink it to what one person can carry in a few hours a month, or let the partner with more room lead this round.
We’d like a bigger role
A regional tourism board or coalition
Offer one specific thing you can own, such as content for your county or a single event.
Partners move at different speeds
Shared marketing campaigns
Set a few fixed check-in dates and let each partner commit only to what it can deliver by then.
Why some collaboration isn’t happening
We don’t know where to start
Itineraries across county lines
Ask a neighboring office or your regional tourism group how they did it, and copy the simplest version.
No one to run it
Sharing visitor data
Let a partner with more staff lead, and offer content, photos or local contacts in return.
What you weren’t sure about
Finding these out is a quick win. Ask your team, your board chair or a neighboring director. These answers aren’t in your score yet.
Infrastructure: a tool you already use with partners
Leadership: board or funder support
What’s Working
Keep building on Relationships. Collaboration that’s going well: sharing marketing content; co-hosting or cross-promoting events; shared booth at the state fair. Here’s what you said makes it work. Look for the same things in your next partnership.
Relationships
You have people you can call. That is the hardest part to build, and you already have it.
What makes it work
A partner we trust
Sharing marketing content
It fits work we already do
Co-hosting or cross-promoting events
It saves us time or money
Shared booth at the state fair
What Collaboration Could Unlock for You
Reaching more visitors without increasing our marketing budget
A co-op ad buy or a shared itinerary splits the cost of reaching new visitors.
Qualifying for grants or funding that require regional partnerships
A shared fact base on the partner counties makes a regional application much easier to write.
Getting some relief from tasks our team currently handles alone that a partner could share
Sharing one job, such as an events calendar or a press list, takes it off two desks.
A shared winter campaign
You added this one. Bring it to your first conversation with a neighbor.
How Often Rural DMOs Collaborate
How often 116 rural DMOs said they work with neighboring DMOs or counties in the 2026 State of Rural Tourism survey.
Frequently (monthly or more)41%
Occasionally (a few times a year) (you)40%
Rarely (once a year or less)14%
Never5%
What Gets in the Way Elsewhere
What 114 rural DMOs said prevents more collaboration in their region. The survey options were worded differently, so we matched your answers where they line up.
Limited staff capacity (you)59%
Limited budget (you)35%
No clear framework / structure35%
Competition between destinations (you)24%
Lack of shared digital tools16%
Lack of communication channels7%
Where to Go From Here
Talk to Other DirectorsAsk rural tourism offices how they started working with their neighbors, and share what you’ve tried.Join the Community Forum →Read the Full ResearchThe 2026 State of Rural Tourism report, including how often rural DMOs work together and what gets in the way. Free to read and share.Read the Report →See How You CompareThe free Benchmark Report compares your office with similar rural tourism offices on staff, budget and workload.Get Your Benchmark →
If you’d like outside help, our Strategic Focus Sprint helps a stretched team pick three priorities for the year and what to stop, so partnership work has a place. Or book a free call to talk through your report.
Scores come from your answers only and weight the five areas equally. Not sure and Doesn’t apply answers aren’t scored. Stages: Exploring under 40, Building 40 to 59, Ready 60 to 79, Leading 80 and over. Survey figures: 2026 State of Rural Tourism Survey, Rural Tourism Network.