Essential ingredients: creating partnerships that deliver commercial and social impact
In an age of increasing global challenges, how can we, as businesses and charities, collaborate to generate greater social impact? In our most recent masterclass, Jude Brooks and Kate Crabtree, two seasoned professionals from the commercial and charity sectors, respectively, provided us with a comprehensive roadmap for building meaningful and impactful partnerships.
Our masterclass began with a bold vision: reimagining the world of work where every leader and organisation can create a social impact through their business. Jude, who has spent over thirty years in large commercial organisations and now consults for responsible brands, emphasised the importance of unlocking commercial value from social purpose and impact programs. Her philosophy, “I want to do work that matters with people that care,” really set the tone for our discussion.
With over twenty years in the charity sector, Kate highlighted the critical role of collaboration. Her experience leading partnership teams underscored the value of diverse perspectives and the potential for impactful synergy between the commercial world and the charity sector.
4.2 million children living in poverty in the UK | Highest number of global conflicts since the Second World War Estimated that 1.2 billion people could be displaced by 2050 due to natural disasters and other ecological threats.
We face a global landscape marked by political uncertainty, a surge in global conflicts, and the looming threat of climate change. These factors, combined with a cost of living crisis affecting millions, place immense pressure on public services and, by extension, on charities. This environment underscores the urgent need for partnerships, as no single entity can solve these issues alone.
There is growing recognition that businesses must play a pivotal role in addressing these challenges. The paradigm is shifting from maximising shareholder value to maximising stakeholder value.
During the masterclass, we emphasised the need to reframe our attitudes towards Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). We have the opportunity to shift the perception of CSR from being primarily about risk mitigation to being a driver of business growth, from siloed activities to embedding social impact into an organisation’s DNA, and from mere philanthropy to driving mutual shared value.
‘The companies that are breaking the mould are moving beyond corporate social responsibility to social innovation. These companies are the vanguard of the new paradigm. They view community needs as opportunities to develop ideas and demonstrate business technologies, to find and serve new markets, and to solve long-standing business problems.’ – Rosabeth Moss Kanter
Jude and Kate introduced us to the A* Partnership Playbook, a set of essential ingredients for building long-term, mutually beneficial strategic partnerships that drive both business value and social impact. The playbook is not a rigid framework but rather a guide for successful collaboration:
Align Authentically: Identify issues that align with the business’s strategic goals and values. This involves top-level engagement and conducting materiality assessments to ensure the partnership is strategic and authentic.
Agree Your Approach: Establish a shared vision and goals, set KPIs, and consider collaborative efforts even with competitors. Define a clear methodology for genuine impact measurement.
Activate and Anchor: Embed the partnership across the organisation through employee engagement, personal development opportunities, and customer interactions. Financial support and budget allocation for activities like volunteering are crucial.
Amplify and Accelerate: Effective communication is key. Establish a shared message matrix, consider the channel mix, create necessary assets, and leverage advocacy opportunities to amplify efforts.
Assess and Advance: Continuously assess and improve the partnership, measure long-term impacts, and plan for the future. Be prepared to scale and transition the partnership as needed.
We concluded the session by offering five key pieces of advice for reflection:
Originally posted here
