Difference between revisions of "NGO-Business Partnerships"
(→Recommendations for Establishing a Partnership) |
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* Lack of management skills | * Lack of management skills | ||
==Recommendations for Establishing a Partnership== | ==Recommendations for Establishing a Partnership== | ||
| − | Global Corporate Citizenship Initiative: | + | There are many reccommendations for establishing a partnership that are useful to both businesses and NGOs. |
| − | + | Global Corporate Citizenship Initiative suggests the following: | |
| − | + | #Build trust and understanding through openness, transparency and good communication. | |
| − | + | #Establish clear roles, responsibilities and ground rules. | |
| − | + | #Respect differences in approach, competence, timeframes and objectives of different partners. | |
| − | + | #Apply the same professional rigor and discipline focused on achieving goals that would be applied to other business alliances. | |
| − | + | #Focus on achieving mutual benefit in a manner that enables the partners to meet their own objectives as well as common goals. | |
| + | #Understand the needs of local partners and beneficiaries, with a focus on building their own capacity and capability rather than creating dependence. | ||
| − | Aspen Institute’s Nonprofit Sector Strategy Group: | + | Aspen Institute’s Nonprofit Sector Strategy [[Blogs and Community Groups|Group]] reccommends the following: |
* Identify specific projects for collaboration | * Identify specific projects for collaboration | ||
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** Agree on joint report process and results | ** Agree on joint report process and results | ||
| − | Roger Cowe lists these key success factors identified by | + | Roger Cowe lists these key success factors identified by Sustainability, a consultancy: |
| − | + | #The company must be serious about changing its behavior and should be able to drive change in its own sector and across the business community generally. | |
| − | + | #The NGO must be able to maintain clear accountability to its own key stakeholders, and must maintain its independence from the business partner. | |
| − | + | #Each partner needs to benefit directly and to understand the other’s benefits. | |
| − | + | #The “rules of engagement” need to be clearly agreed at the outset. | |
| − | + | #Individual participants must be sufficiently senior to have their organization’s mandate and be able to make difficult decisions without constantly having to refer back. | |
| − | + | #The people involved must trust each other. | |
| − | The twelve principles in Robyn Shepherd’s toolkit are: | + | The twelve principles in Robyn Shepherd’s toolkit are: |
| − | # | + | #'''Understanding''': Both partners should demonstrate mutual understanding and a shared commitment. If they cannot achieve between themselves a balanced level of enthusiasm and dedication to the partnership, other partners should be sought. |
| − | # | + | #'''Representation''': Each organization should carefully choose its representatives when forming the partnership. Even if both organizations are generally committed to the partnership, it could fail if the designated representatives are not adequately motivated. |
| − | # | + | #'''Power''': Power in the partnership should be balanced. No one party should dominate discussions or decision-making. Dispute resolution procedures should be established early. |
| − | # | + | #'''Openness''': Partners should hold open, candid discussions about power to further transparency and trust. |
| − | # | + | #'''Loyalty: Partnerships are based on a common purpose and shared responsibility toward the goal and toward each other. To achieve mutual accountability, each partner should demonstrate loyalty and consideration. |
| − | # | + | #'''Joint Action: Partners should work together harmoniously in the partnership, including when evaluating and reporting on partnership activities. |
| − | # | + | #'''Ownership''': The organizations should share ownership of the partnership. Any work done belongs to the collective partnership and not to any single party. Both partners should take credit for all outcomes – achievements and failures. |
| − | # | + | #'''Information''': There should be a balanced flow of [[Information Management|information]] among partners. All reports and documents generated through collaborative work should be shared and open to all partners for review, comment, reference and use. |
# COMMUNICATION: Communications should be fair, open, effective, respectful, and candid. | # COMMUNICATION: Communications should be fair, open, effective, respectful, and candid. | ||
# RESPECT: Partners must demonstrate mutual respect and trust in negotiations and decision-making. | # RESPECT: Partners must demonstrate mutual respect and trust in negotiations and decision-making. | ||
Revision as of 07:45, 13 August 2008
The foundation for this article was a paper on "Networking with Business" prepared by Frances C. Gretes for the NGO Handbook.
A partnership is defined as a relationship between individuals or groups that is characterized by mutual cooperation and responsibility and established for the achievement of a specified goal. Within the international development community, the term “partnership” often comprises the host country's counterpart organizations, for-profit entities, and program beneficiaries. The UN defines the private (for-profit) sector as having four components:
- Multi-national corporations (MNCs)
- Small and medium enterprises (SMEs)
- National large-scale enterprises (LSEs)
- Micro-enterprises.
Since 2000, MNCs have increasingly played a more active role as partners providing financial resources, expertise and other forms of support. (Cooley, 1)
Models for successful business-NGO partnerships have been slow to develop. As the number of NGOs grows and NGOs face increasing competition, they are moving towards partnering as a means of differentiation. (Davies, 29) Both NGOs and businesses have learned lessons from early partnership experiences and are now developing meaningful relationships that provide mutual benefits. Each side, possessing certain knowledge, skills and infrastructure, is helping the other meet their goals, without sacrificing integrity or profit, and producing results for the common good.
Jeb Brugmann points out: “As their interests and capabilities converge, these corporations and NGOs are together creating business models that are helping to grow new markets at the bottom of the pyramid and niche segments in mature markets.” (Brugmann, 2)
Rajat Gupta, former McKinsey managing director, said to the UN General Assembly in 2005, “… there is no hope for development without business, and in the long term, there is no hope for business without development.” (Gupta)
To achieve partnership success, development and business experts agree that the requisites are common ground, effective leadership, and accountability at all levels. They recommend focusing on trust, people, and on managing those relationships. Businesses need to have flexibility and work in circles other than those that are customary. NGOs, on the other hand, must understand that businesses work with different start timetables and protocols and that they expect their partners to respect deadlines and commitments. NGOs must also improve accountability to their partners as well as their communities.
Below is a presentation of the key issues and recommendations for building successful long-term partnerships.
