NGOs recognise corporates offer more than money, says C&E report

Partnerships between companies and NGOs are now more likely to leverage non-financial resources and competencies to achieve mutually agreed goals, finds the latest research by C&E Advisory in its annual Corporate-NGO Partnerships Barometer report.

The report – the fifth in an annual series of practitioner-led studies drawing on a poll of 130 leading companies and NGOs – explores the drivers for, and barriers to, partnering, as well as future prospects for the corporate-NGO partnership agenda.

C&E Advisory found that both NGOs and corporates are gaining a greater understanding of the business potential of partnerships as organisations engage in multi-lateral agreements over longer timescales, leveraging each sector’s assets to maximise mutual benefit.

This year’s research has also seen a striking increase in the view that partnerships are changing business practices for the better. Around 59% of corporate respondents state that their NGO partnerships have helped them change business practices for the better (up from 46% in 2013) and 87% believe their NGO partners have helped their companies to better understand social and environmental issues.

Notably, 69% of business respondents believe that effectively harnessing their competencies and non-cash assets can make much more of an impact on their NGO partners than financial support alone.

And although a disparity remains between NGO and corporate perceptions of the value of non-financial support, this latest research reveals a narrowing gap as almost half of NGO respondents now acknowledge the impact that non-financial support, such as leveraging corporate competencies, canbring to the attainment of their mission (48%, up 12% on the 2013 figure).

When asked what factors were most likely to make corporate-NGO partnerships more important over the next three years, over 90% of all respondents state ‘increased recognition of the need to leverage each sector’s different assets in order to maximise mutual benefit’.

You can dowload the full report here.