Further, we plan to take the Principles in 2020 to a regional conference where we hope to have companies and governments come together to use them in forging specific nutrition and food security partnerships.
Rebecca, I think that you have hit on the nail: “the ability of the program to sustain itself” is a critical element that differentiates short vs long term goals
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That’s why it was so important to mark Cargill and CARE’s Decade of Impact in 2018. It really demonstrates the long term impact of our partnership. You can find out more details here:
https://www.cargill.com/sustainability/partners/care-partner
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Coalitions are also important for the long term. When you are reliant on just 2 organisations, there is less potential for long term sustainability – it’s important for both parties to plan for the longer-term lifecycle of a partnership, and for NGOs in particular to not be too reliant on a single source of funding.
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Together with Ashoka here in Austria we will be looking into the possibility of encouraging NGOs to sustain their programs by turning them into social businesses… from our point of view an actually interesting approach.
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Hi Michael, I would be interested in finding out more about the principles you mention. thanks! Tom
Rebecca, Gaston - a key part of “resilience” in partnerships, aside from being self sustaining, is the ability to “plant seeds,” for further scaling + building out. One example in the SDG8 space is the Global Apprenticeship Network, which connects business groups with youth through apprenticeship opportunities - the benefits are being spread through building young people’s skills and employability.
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I guess that the real test will be whether you get investors rather than donors. Neverthless, I guess that social business would have to coexist with alliances.
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Tom, the seven Principles are Alignment, Prioritization, Impact, Data, Innovation, Accountability, and Inclusion. I can give you more information about any or all of the Principles – just ask if you are interested!
Q2: What makes for a great transformational partnership and how do you get there? (top tips from practitioners)
A2: The most transformational partnerships I know of break down the traditional donor/recipient dynamic and have the company and NGO approach each other as partners who are both interested in solving the same problem. Each brings unique strengths and no one can do it alone. The Cargill/CARE partnership is a great example as are the ones between WFP and Mastercard: https://www1.wfp.org/mastercard and Elanco and Heifer: https://www.elanco.com/news/press-releases/elanco-heifer-international-10-year-effort
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A2: One tip from USCIB’s transformational partnership with GAIN – be a risk taker. Listen to stakeholders and try to take into account their concerns, but continue to drive forward with the objective and pursue the paradigm shift you are trying to achieve. Some of our member companies were concerned about an engagement with an NGO whose views might not align with their interests, and some of GAIN’s funders were concerned about their partnership with certain private sector companies. We reassured our respective stakeholders that the outcome of the Principles of Engagement would be worth the risk and investment of resources, and from the feedback we have received, we believe that they stakeholders are quite satisfied with the outcome, which as the potential to transform the way businesses and governments partner to improve nutritional outcomes.
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Longer-term partnerships also foster trust and give us the ability to try new programmatic approaches.
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I guess that it was already established in this chat, that diversification is good. Both temporal, number of sources of funding, etc. Another one - from my experience - is that these arrangements work best when more than one team within each organisation is invested in making the partnership work.
Yes clear alignment of goals but informality/flexibility of working structures…
Tom, please go to this link for more information about the Principles: https://www.uscib.org/report-urges-new-partnerships-to-achieve-global-nutrition-goals/
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could you share a link to the principles? thanks!
Yes we do experience a degree of mistrust, and I think it goes both ways. But we try to keep our radar open for engaging with NGOs, even if we’re not working with them, and through that long-term dialogue when we make a decision to enter into a partnership, there’s a foundation of trust and we’re more able to take a long-term view, focusing on where we can best work together.
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The collaboration has also enabled new ways of partnering between the two organizations – bringing together in-country, regional and global teams to design and execute programs, creating and reinforcing relationships at multiple levels.
Enabling frameworks for partnerships matter a great deal, including at the UN which is ground zero for multilateral action for the SDGs. It is a little disappointing to note that there is still no well-resourced and recognized institutional architecture for SDG partnerships in the UN – something akin to the VNR process for governments. Inter-governmental bodies, national governments, etc. can catalyze partnerships by providing “convening” points, a place for recognition and standing when it comes to SDG partnerships.
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