Unrealistic expectations
Partnerships can falter if members have unrealistic expectations for what people will contribute and what the partnership and/or program will accomplish.

Geographic challenges
Many "communities" are actually very large. People or agencies may have rural municipalities, regions, or other large geographic areas as their jurisdictions. The sheer distance can make it difficult to form and maintain a partnership, in terms of making it to meetings, having sufficient face-to-face contact, sharing responsibilities, and ensuring adequate communication.

One literacy practitioner we interviewed expressed concern about not having enough contact with her partners. She was responsible for a very widespread area, and many of the people she was collaborating with were in small towns at the opposite side of the region from where she lived and worked. Situations like this can be particularly challenging in the winter, when the weather and bad roads make travelling risky.

Difficulty in predicting client needs
Many programs in our communities are based on client-identified needs. When groups in those programs change, the needs identified may change as well. If the needs of the new group do not include family literacy, or parenting, then commitment to the family literacy partnership may be suspended or withdrawn. For example, the parents in an Adult Basic Education class identified a need for information on how to prepare their children for school. Those needs were the basis of a partnership between the ABE program and the local Homespun program, and Homespun was introduced as one component of the class. In between program cycles, however, it is difficult, if not impossible, for the instructor to make a commitment to working with the Homespun program because she has not yet met her new students.

Ineffective meetings
Several of the community partners that we interviewed stated that ineffective meetings can posed significant challenges to community partnerships. Meetings without goals or a good facilitator, taking too much time on paperwork and planning, and people not contributing to or not attending meetings were cited as deterrents to participation.