Thursday, October 25, 2007

Unleashing the Power of NGOs for Greater Good

As companies continue to respond to the power of private citizens and their quest to improve society, they are also being forced to re-evaluate their partnerships and accountability of their contributions to the community.

Never has there been a greater time to align more aggressively with non-profit social actors – NGOs (UN Agencies, development agencies and civil society organizations).

The business focus of NGOs includes critical initiatives such as healthcare, disease, energy efficiency, agriculture, environmental quality protection, children’s’ poverty, civil rights and so on. However, some NGOs are considered to be disorganized, bureaucratic and have fragmented communications.

It’s not all about philanthropy...............

Collaborating and aligning with these businesses’ are important avenues for giving, can both benefit and mobilize the public at large in advancing good causes.

Companies have a timely opportunity to review and collaborate with some competent NGOs thanks to The United Nations Global Compact, Dalberg Global Development Advisors and the Financial Times.

The companies aligned to identify and analyze a group of non-profit social actors who have proven competence in partnering with companies. Dalberg received 865 valid partnership ratings from 445 companies in response to a survey distributed to more than 20,000 companies worldwide about their partnership experiences - rated on adaptability, execution, and communication. Key highlights of the findings:

  • 73% concluded that corporate partnerships would be important for their own company over the next 3 years
  • The majority cited successful implementation of effective and relevant CSR programs as the main reason for partnering with NGOs
  • Core business and advocacy partnerships are perceived to have higher impact than those focused on philanthropy

The three most pursued areas of partnership were in Education, Environmental Protection and Communications, while Microfinance received high interest.

Lions Club International, Environmental Defense, WRI and TechnoServe ranked among the top 34 global organizations listed. Additionally, 53 local/regional NGOs emerged as leaders.

Proper collaboration and alignment with the NGO community as a key component of a company's responsibility initiatives, represents considerable advantages and benefits for both parties. These include increasing the profits of their businesses and donor acquisition, and for NGOs to take advantage of corporate resources, expand these markets, make contributors' money go further and.......enable greater community impact.

For more information about this study –
www.dalberg.com
‘Business guide to partnering with NGOs and the United Nations’