NGO and company partnerships for inclusive business

Many NGOs and companies are interested in engaging in such partnerships, but often struggle with the “how”. This is primarily because of the dual purpose underlying such relationships, which seek to combine social impact with a business case. At the same time, NGOs and companies are frequently very different from one another. Making a well-balanced collaboration work requires that all participants understand one another’s motivations, organisational cultures, and structures. Our main motivation in writing this guide has been our hope of unlocking IB partnerships’ immense potential for helping to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) more effectively. To this end, our guide aims to give NGOs and companies guidance in conducting more productive IB partnerships as equal partners. We hope these pages will create a better understanding for what IB partnerships actually are, provide inspiration in the form of real partnership examples, and offer a way forward by documenting the lessons learned by practitioners in the field. Who should read this guide?