KPI of the Day – Sustainability: # Partnerships with non-profit organizations
Definition
Measures the number of partnerships that a company has with non-profit organizations (NPOs) or non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Partnerships comprised within this KPI include donations, sponsorships, volunteer programs and jointly developed and implemented projects. Partnerships of commercial nature are excluded.
Purpose
To provide an overview of the company’s involvement in the community.
Recommendations
Reporting on this KPI can be done based on category breakdowns. While keeping track of this KPI helps assess the extent of an organization’s social responsibility, it does not provide measurements of the company’s actual involvement in terms of time and financial investment, neither does it showcase the impact these partnerships may have on stakeholders.
It is advisable for reporting companies to also address such additional qualitative information, in order to provide a more accurate picture of the firm’s involvement in the community.
To be successful and impactful, the corporate – non-profit partnerships need to be mutually beneficial for both parties involved. Although corporations are more interested than ever in their social responsibilities, they also expect the nonprofit partnerships to contribute to their performance, through a brand boost, better stakeholder relationships or even increased market share.
Thus, it is important for companies to seek out non-corporate partners whose activities and values are well aligned to their own.
While increasing the # Partnerships with non-profit organizations is desirable, companies should keep in mind the following aspects:
- Partner with non-profit organizations that are active in areas that are of significant interest to the company, in order to obtain an optimal cultural fit and to maximize the value created through the partnership, for the company, as well as for the community;
- Encourage employees to suggest NPOs and NGOs for possible partnerships, thus also boosting employee engagement;
- While donations and sponsorships represent an accessible way to get involved in corporate social responsibility, companies should seek to also create more impactful and long-term partnerships with the non-profit sector, such as joint projects to address important needs identified in the community;
- Through shared-value partnerships, NPOs and NGOs can bring a more meaningful contribution to a corporate partner’s strategy, particularly in emerging and developing countries, where they can act as innovation partners (providing contextual knowledge and cultural awareness) or as delivery partners (carrying out direct interventions with individuals or local organizations);
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