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Global Development Advisors
Business guide
to partnering
with NGOs and
the United Nations
Report 2007 / 2008
A report by the UN Global Compact and Dalberg Global Development Advisors
UN Global Compact contacts:	 Dalberg Global Development Advisors contacts:
Georg Kell	 Henrik Skovby
Melissa Powell	 Sonila Cook
Olajobi Makinwa	 Shervin Setareh
Tel. +1 917 367 2084	 Tel. +45 3296 2030 (Denmark)
www.unglobalcompact.org	 Tel. +1 212 867 4447 (New York)
			 Email: guide@dalberg.com
			 www.dalberg.com
© Copyright 2007 Dalberg Global Development Advisors – all rights reserved.
The information contained herein is based on data collected by Dalberg Global Development Advisors
as well as information that has been provided by the featured organizations themselves in the course
of the analysis. While Dalberg has taken due care in compiling, analyzing, and using the information,
it does not assume any liability, express or implied, with respect to the consequences of use of its ratings
and analyses. The ratings and reports do not constitute a recommendation to engage into a partnership
with the ratee, nor do they constitute a solicitation for donation. Dalberg has not verified the completeness,
accuracy, and truthfulness of the information it received from the NGOs or other social actors such as
UN agencies and bilateral government agencies (hereafter in aggregate referred to as “social actors”)
featured in this publication, or the companies surveyed to identify the social actors, and does not assume
any liability in this regard.
This information may not be reproduced or published by any means without the express written consent
of Dalberg Global Development Advisors.
Design	 BGRAPHIC Denmark
Photo	 Scanpix Denmark
Printing	 Schultz Grafisk Denmark
Business guide
to partnering
with NGOs and
the United Nations
Global Development Advisors
Report 2007 / 2008
Introduction	 3
The Spirit Behind the Business Guide 	 4
Executive Summary	 7
Methodology 	 12
How to read the profiles	 17
Profiles of global NGOs/UN agencies	 33
Profiles of regional/local NGOs	 266
Board members 	 530
Partners and supporters	 533
Acknowledgements	 537
Annex with list of NGOs/UN agencies	 538
© 2007 Dalberg Global Development Advisors
The world took notice at the Johannesburg Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 when
companies, the UN and NGOs came together to advocate for collective action to address climate
change. However, the movement towards cooperation between the UN, NGOs and the business
community was slow to take hold. By 2005, the Financial Times was still calling a collaborative
project between Unilever and Oxfam ”globalization’s strange bedfellows”. But despite slow
recognition by the media, a fundamental change was occurring. Instead of confrontation, NGOs,
the United Nations and businesses were beginning to speak the same language and seeking to
work together to tackle global challenges.
Today, over sixty-five percent of the Global Compact’s corporate participants are engaged in
partnerships with NGOs and the UN. This publication is a response to the exploding demand 	
for guidance. Created in collaboration with Dalberg Global Development Advisors, the Business
Guide for Partnering with NGOs and the United Nations provides a market-based assessment 	
of leading non-profit social actors and the United Nations that have demonstrated competency 	
in partnering with companies in a number of areas such as advocacy, awareness- raising, health
and the environment, among others.
As a new initiative designed to be updated and improved going forward, the Guide is still a work
in progress, a platform that will continue to evolve. For instance, we will have to find ways to get
more surveys completed and the methodology and empirical foundation will need to be revisited.
As we continue on this journey, these improvements will happen. Nevertheless, this Guide 	
is a great step forward. It provides useful information in an accessible format and will lead to
greater transparency in the market for partnerships. I commend this initiative and see great hope
that it will advance the enlightened self-interest of business and civil society partnering together 	
to promote sustainable development.
Georg Kell		
Executive Director	
United Nations Global Compact
Introduction
Business guide to partnering with NGOs and the UN
Background
When the tsunami hit the shores of the Aceh province in Indonesia, it immediately became 	
a global disaster. Not only did the tragedy impact local families and tourists from dozens 	
of countries, it also required public and private resources from overseas to address the grave
humanitarian and development challenges. The UN Global Compact and the Business 	
Roundtable invited President Bill Clinton and executives from leading companies to discuss 	
how they could rapidly deploy first-class solutions to a very complex and demanding situation.
The sheer size of the problem and the need for immediate action brought together companies
and social actors in a way that allowed them to address the emergency far more effectively than
either one could on their own.
Partnerships between companies and social actors
to address humanitarian and development
challenges are on the rise. Today, this approach is probably the most promising way to attack
complex problems that call upon the skill, knowledge, and experience of a wide range of stake-
holders in order to be successful and sustainable. The key motives for private-sector engagement
in public-benefit partnerships are multiple, including:
–	 An acknowledgement that the private sector often has the resources and expertise 	
that are critical in resolving complex challenges;
–	 A growing expectation from investors, customers, employees, and other stakeholders 	
that business plays an important role as a corporate citizen in addressing critical societal
issues;
–	 Companies’ increasing recognition that they have a social responsibility that goes beyond
producing services and goods and securing jobs—a responsibility that stems from the
realization of the interdependence among their operations and the health, climate, 	
and humanitarian challenges of the markets in which they operate;
–	 The insight among companies that making money and doing good are not mutually 	
exclusive; and
–	 The notion that social responsibility not only carries business benefits but helps manage 	
risks and foster strong relationships in societies where companies source or sell, and that 	
it provides them with access to knowledge and opportunities they might otherwise not have.
	 Including NGOs, UN agencies, foundations, and bilateral development agencies.
The Spirit Behind the Business Guide
© 2007 Dalberg Global Development Advisors
While these partnerships are necessary to resolve complex societal problems, the number 	
of successful examples is still limited in both relative and absolute terms. Some of the key
constraints include:
–	 The lack of familiarity between the sectors and the high entry barriers in terms of goodwill 	
and trust;
–	 The difficulty faced by companies in identifying appropriate social actors and successful
partnership models due to a lack of market transparency;
–	 The challenges faced by NGOs in figuring out how to partner with businesses without
compromising the integrity of their mission; and
–	 The limited clarity for many social actors on how to build relevant partnering attributes 	
and capabilities.
The aspirational benefits of the guide
This guide was born out of the belief that if companies are aware of the success of other 	
businesses in engaging in partnerships, they themselves will be more inclined to seriously
consider the prospects of partnering.
Thus, the overarching aspiration of this business guide is to increase the number of partnerships
and the quality and impact of those partnerships. Through three distinct avenues we have tried 	
to create a product that helps both companies and social actors prepare themselves for partner-
ship building:
–	 Transparency: The publication is an attempt to create greater transparency in the market-
place by identifying successful partnership examples. The enclosed organizational profiles
enable companies to sort and identify partners based on geography, strengths, focus areas,
etc., making it significantly easier to find the right partner.
–	 Access: The guide provides readers with contact information and highlights topics around
which profiled organizations are interested in creating partnerships. Thus, it will be easy for
companies to make a connection with an appropriate organization on an issue of relevance 	
to both of them.
–	 Role models: The guide showcases social actors and partnerships that have been success-
ful, hopefully displaying some of the important factors—such as execution capa­bilities,
accountability, and entrepreneurship—that companies are looking for in partners.
Business guide to partnering with NGOs and the UN
Design principles and approach
This guide is not a comprehensive directory of all great social actors with partnering capabilities.
We recognize that there are successful partnerships that have not made their way into this
publication. Our hope is to see included an increasing number of organizations in subsequent
versions of this guide during the next few years, as more companies and social actors become
familiar with the guide and its purpose.
As this guide is a first attempt at exploring the state of partnerships between companies and
social actors, the criteria for inclusion can, and will, undoubtedly change over time. At this point,
the choice of criteria represents the authors’ serious and good-faith effort to provide useful
market information in a fair way. Some of the key design principles around the guide have been:
–	 Inclusivity: Experts representing various stakeholders were included from the outset 	
to ensure that the product is as robust and credible as possible.
–	 Affordability: Rather than apply a high price point, as one finds with traditional industry
reports, an effort has been made to keep this publication at a price point that enables 	
all interested organizations to access the information.
–	Flexibility of Design: The long-term aspirations are to move toward a dynamic online
platform, where companies and social actors can meet, information can be constantly
updated, and organizations can learn from each other.
The total number of responses is relatively modest in size compared to the potential universe 	
of players—and may not be geographically balanced, which we expect to see improved in the
future. We also hope to develop in future years a complementary rating in which social actors
assess excellent companies to partner with.
Although this guide is a modest start at identifying the global state of partnerships, we hope 	
that the examples highlighted can serve as an inspiration for both social actors and companies,
and help push the frontier of possibility in addressing global issues.
Henrik Skovby	 David Bonbright	 	Robert H. Dunn
Founding Partner	 Chief Executive	 	President and CEO
Dalberg	 Keystone	 	The Synergos Institute
© 2007 Dalberg Global Development Advisors
The United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest voluntary corporate citizenship initiative,
has partnered with Dalberg Global Development Advisors, a strategy firm in the field of global
development, to identify a group of non-profit social actors (including civil society organizations,
bilateral development agencies and UN Agencies/Funds/Programmes) who have proven compe-
tence in partnering with companies.
The work was conducted in collaboration with a strong set of supporters, spanning some of the
most highly regarded players in the corporate citizenship sector, including Business for Social
Responsibility (BSR), International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF),American Chambers of
Commerce, International Chambers of Commerce (ICC), World Bank Institute (WBI), World
Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD), and CSR Wire.
Dalberg created and distributed a survey to more than 20,000 companies worldwide to collect
data on their partnership experiences with social actors. We received 865 valid partnership
ratings from 445 companies, who rated social actors on the basis of their accountability
,
adaptability
, execution
, and communication
(for further details see the section ”How to read the
profiles”). Upon careful analysis of the responses, the following salient findings emerged:
Most respondents either currently partner with NGOs/UN agencies
or intend to partner in the future
Almost two thirds of respondents (61%) had engaged in partnerships with social actors over the
past 3 years. An overwhelming 88% of companies without prior partnership experience voiced
interest in doing so in the future. The 12% of inexperienced companies that did not express
interest cited absence of common areas for partnership.
Companies believe that partnerships with NGOs and UN agencies
are increasing in importance
The vast majority of companies agree that partnerships will gain in importance in the future.
More precisely, 73% of all respondents concluded that corporate partnerships would be impor-
tant or extremely important
for their own company over the next 3 years, and about 61% of
respondents indicated that corporate partnership would be ”important” or ”extremely important”
for the market as a whole.
Companies with prior partnership experience were more bullish about the future importance of
partnerships, reflecting positively on their experience partnering with social actors.
	 The partner’s dedication to upholding a strong relationship with the company it has partnered with.
	 The partner’s capacity to understand and utilize the strengths and weaknesses of your organization to work towards 	
a common objective.
	 The partner’s ability to transform plans and intentions into successful partnerships.
	 The quality of timely and concise information throughout the partnership.
	 Those responding ”extremely important” or ”important” to the question: ”Please rate how important you feel partnerships 	
between companies and NGOs/the UN will be in the future”. Other possible responses included ”Somewhat Important”, 	
”Important”, ”Not Very Important”, ”Not Important At All”.
Executive summary
Business guide to partnering with NGOs and the UN
Question: How important do you think partnerships will be in the next 3 years?
Percent responding ”extremely important” or ”very important”
Successfully implementing effective and relevant CSR programs
and building trust with stakeholders are top priorities for companies
when partnering
An overwhelming majority of respondents cited successful implementation of effective and
relevant CSR programs as the main reason for partnering with NGOs and UN organizations. 	
This reason was closely followed by the desire to build trust with shareholders. Companies 	
were least likely to partner to gain insight from the know-how of social actor partners or to
advance core business objectives.
In a partnership, companies most value their partner’s
accountability and execution skills
Companies rated Accountability and Execution as being the most important performance 	
categories in their evaluation of partners. The data also indicate a strong correlation between the
overall scores of the four rating categories and the perceived impact of the partnership.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
For
the market
For my
organization
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
For
the market
For my
organization
Percent responding “extemely important”
or “very important”
Companies with no prior
partnership experience
Percent responding “extemely important”
or “very important”
Companies with prior
partnership experience
81 64
61 55
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
For
the market
For my
organization
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
For
the market
For my
organization
Percent responding “extemely important”
or “very important”
Companies with no prior
partnership experience
Percent responding “extemely important”
or “very important”
Companies with prior
partnership experience
81 64
61 55
4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 5 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4
Successfully implement effective and relevant CSR programs
Build trust with stakeholders
Engage in corporate citizenship
Improve employee morale
Enhance the company’s reputation
Advancing core business opbjectives
Gain insight from know-how of partner
Based on a scale of 1 to 6, with 6 reflecting the most important reason
Reasons that companies partner with social actors
© 2007 Dalberg Global Development Advisors
Partnerships incorporating both local and global elements
were more highly rated than either purely local or global partnerships
63% of partnerships were local, 33% global, and 3% incorporated both global and local 	
elements. Partnerships that involved both global and local activities typically scored the highest,
with an average score of 4.5 (out of a maximum of 5). Global partnerships had an average score
of 4.0, while local partnerships had an average score of 3.9. That said, comments from survey
respondents highlight the importance of local partnerships, e.g., from a global 50 energy 	
company, ”For MNE [multi-national enterprises], local partnerships to deliver on business
objectives are essential.”
Core business and advocacy partnerships are perceived
to have higher impact than those focused on philanthropy
26% of partnerships were purely Philanthropic in nature, 21% related only to a company’s Core
Business, and 15% focused on Advocacy and Awareness. The remaining partnerships were
composed of multiple elements, e.g. 50% of all partnerships involved an element of philanthropy.
Interestingly, partnerships conducted in the Advocacy and Awareness, and Core Business areas
had a higher perceived overall impact than those involved purely in philanthropy.
Both at the local and global levels, companies are most likely
to engage in partnerships on education and environmental protection
Locally, companies were most likely to engage in partnerships in the education sector (39%), 	
and globally, in the area of environmental protection (33%). These are also the two most common
areas for partnerships envisioned in the long term. The emphasis on environmental protection 	
is reinforced by the fact that almost a quarter of the 34 leading global NGOs focus on the
environment. As one respondent reflected, ”I think people are realizing the need for global
solutions for global problems rather than national or enterprise solutions.”
	 Philanthropy and Social Investment: Donating time (volunteers), money, products and the use of premises;
	Advocacy and Awareness: Awareness-raising campaigns, projects that influence decision-makers and collective actions 	
that set rules, norms and standards;
	Core Business: Creating employment, fostering entrepreneurship, implementing social, environmental or ethical standards, 	
and/or providing affordable goods and services (projects should be linked to the sourcing, manufacturing, development, 	
distribution, pricing and end-use of a company’s products and services).
Advocacy
and Awareness
(126)
None (34)
(88)
(73)
(46)
(92)
Philanthropy
and Social
Investment
(228)
Core
Business
(178)
Number of partnerships (”None” signifies no allocation by the company)
Types of partnerships
10Business guide to partnering with NGOs and the UN
Microfinance, rated as one of the most successful areas of partnership,
is one of the least pursued areas
The three most pursued areas of partnership were in the spheres of Education, Environmental
Protection and Communications. Microfinance represented only 5% of partnerships, but received
the highest scores compared to any other area. Microfinance also had one of the highest overall
impact scores. Temporary shelter, power generation, and transportation were the lowest scoring
partnership areas.
Area of partnership	 Average Score
Microfinance	 4.17
Employment Opportunities	 4.12
Food	 4.12
Healthcare	 4.12
Support Economy	 4.11
Protect Environment	 4.06
Agriculture and fisheries	 4.06
Women’s Rights	 4.04
Volunteering/Secondment	 4.03
Education	 4.01
Employment Fairness/Treatment	 3.96
Communication	 3.96
Health, Safety  Quality of Products	 3.95
Logistics	 3.92
Search and Rescue	 3.89
Sanitation	 3.89
Water	 3.89
Transportation	 3.85
Power generation	 3.68
Temporary Shelter	 3.58
34 global NGOs/UN agencies and 53 local / regional NGOs
emerged as leaders among the 554 NGOs/UN agencies rated
The leading NGOs/UN agencies were identified as laid out in the section detailing the method­
ology. They span a diverse range of geographies and focus areas (please refer to the annex 	
for the list of NGOs). 49% of the partnerships engaged in by the leading global NGOs are global,
while 45% of those partnerships are actually local in nature. Global partnerships with global
NGOs scored higher than local partnerships with global NGOs.
North American companies and the leading global NGOs/UN agencies were most likely to be
engaged in core business-type partnerships, while companies in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East
were more likely to be involved in advocacy and awareness raising partnerships.
Latin American NGOs dominate the local / regional ”hidden gems” list
Of the organizations on the list of ”hidden gems” (NGOs that are local but have been rated
favourably by companies with partnership experience), Latin America represents 40%.
	 Note that this Advance Release does not list all local NGOs as 14 of the 53 are still under due diligence.
11© 2007 Dalberg Global Development Advisors
This may be in part due to the fact the private sector in Latin America is slightly more developed
than in other developing regions. Also, while 86% of local partnerships were between companies
and social partners in the same region, 55% of partnerships engaged in by companies with social
actors in regions outside their own locale were with social actors in Latin America.
North American and Western European NGOs receive the highest overall scores (4.5 and 	
4.4 respectively, vs. 4.2 for Latin American NGOs)
The top 5 areas for local partnerships are education, communications, volunteering, 	
environmental protection, and healthcare.
Partnerships need to be carefully planned, governed and monitored to ensure success
While there is an increasing understanding that partnerships can help both sides deliver more
effectively on common objectives, there is also the recognition that governance needs to be
thought through carefully, and that the expectations of all partners need to be agreed upon in
advance and carefully monitored.
Global players need to improve governance disclosure, and here specifically
with regard to the independence of their non-executive board members
Out of the 34 global NGOs/UN agencies who emerged as leaders in the survey, 29 provided 	
a profiling form that allowed for the verification of disclosure practices. Corporate governance
guidelines outlining rules and recommendations providing the organization with a good corporate
governance system were only available (even upon request) from about half of the global social
actors profiled in this Report.
To protect against potential fraud or mismanagement, a well-established feature of good gover-
nance is the availability of independent non-executive directors on a board. In the absence, 	
of a universally accepted definition of independence, NGOs and UN agencies were asked if they
communicated their definition to allow for an assessment of the independent element on the
board. Only about a third could respond positively to this question.
Information	 Disclosed
Corporate Governance Guidelines	 55% (16 out of 29)
Definition of Independence of Board Members	 34% (10 out of 29)
Western Europe (11)
Sub-Saharan
Africa (3)
North
America (8)
Middle East/
North Africa (1)
Latin America (20)
Eastern Europe (2)
Asia Pacific (8)
Number of “hidden gems” per region

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NGORatingsGuide

  • 1. Global Development Advisors Business guide to partnering with NGOs and the United Nations Report 2007 / 2008
  • 2. A report by the UN Global Compact and Dalberg Global Development Advisors UN Global Compact contacts: Dalberg Global Development Advisors contacts: Georg Kell Henrik Skovby Melissa Powell Sonila Cook Olajobi Makinwa Shervin Setareh Tel. +1 917 367 2084 Tel. +45 3296 2030 (Denmark) www.unglobalcompact.org Tel. +1 212 867 4447 (New York) Email: guide@dalberg.com www.dalberg.com © Copyright 2007 Dalberg Global Development Advisors – all rights reserved. The information contained herein is based on data collected by Dalberg Global Development Advisors as well as information that has been provided by the featured organizations themselves in the course of the analysis. While Dalberg has taken due care in compiling, analyzing, and using the information, it does not assume any liability, express or implied, with respect to the consequences of use of its ratings and analyses. The ratings and reports do not constitute a recommendation to engage into a partnership with the ratee, nor do they constitute a solicitation for donation. Dalberg has not verified the completeness, accuracy, and truthfulness of the information it received from the NGOs or other social actors such as UN agencies and bilateral government agencies (hereafter in aggregate referred to as “social actors”) featured in this publication, or the companies surveyed to identify the social actors, and does not assume any liability in this regard. This information may not be reproduced or published by any means without the express written consent of Dalberg Global Development Advisors. Design BGRAPHIC Denmark Photo Scanpix Denmark Printing Schultz Grafisk Denmark
  • 3. Business guide to partnering with NGOs and the United Nations Global Development Advisors Report 2007 / 2008
  • 4. Introduction 3 The Spirit Behind the Business Guide 4 Executive Summary 7 Methodology 12 How to read the profiles 17 Profiles of global NGOs/UN agencies 33 Profiles of regional/local NGOs 266 Board members 530 Partners and supporters 533 Acknowledgements 537 Annex with list of NGOs/UN agencies 538
  • 5. © 2007 Dalberg Global Development Advisors The world took notice at the Johannesburg Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 when companies, the UN and NGOs came together to advocate for collective action to address climate change. However, the movement towards cooperation between the UN, NGOs and the business community was slow to take hold. By 2005, the Financial Times was still calling a collaborative project between Unilever and Oxfam ”globalization’s strange bedfellows”. But despite slow recognition by the media, a fundamental change was occurring. Instead of confrontation, NGOs, the United Nations and businesses were beginning to speak the same language and seeking to work together to tackle global challenges. Today, over sixty-five percent of the Global Compact’s corporate participants are engaged in partnerships with NGOs and the UN. This publication is a response to the exploding demand for guidance. Created in collaboration with Dalberg Global Development Advisors, the Business Guide for Partnering with NGOs and the United Nations provides a market-based assessment of leading non-profit social actors and the United Nations that have demonstrated competency in partnering with companies in a number of areas such as advocacy, awareness- raising, health and the environment, among others. As a new initiative designed to be updated and improved going forward, the Guide is still a work in progress, a platform that will continue to evolve. For instance, we will have to find ways to get more surveys completed and the methodology and empirical foundation will need to be revisited. As we continue on this journey, these improvements will happen. Nevertheless, this Guide is a great step forward. It provides useful information in an accessible format and will lead to greater transparency in the market for partnerships. I commend this initiative and see great hope that it will advance the enlightened self-interest of business and civil society partnering together to promote sustainable development. Georg Kell Executive Director United Nations Global Compact Introduction
  • 6. Business guide to partnering with NGOs and the UN Background When the tsunami hit the shores of the Aceh province in Indonesia, it immediately became a global disaster. Not only did the tragedy impact local families and tourists from dozens of countries, it also required public and private resources from overseas to address the grave humanitarian and development challenges. The UN Global Compact and the Business Roundtable invited President Bill Clinton and executives from leading companies to discuss how they could rapidly deploy first-class solutions to a very complex and demanding situation. The sheer size of the problem and the need for immediate action brought together companies and social actors in a way that allowed them to address the emergency far more effectively than either one could on their own. Partnerships between companies and social actors to address humanitarian and development challenges are on the rise. Today, this approach is probably the most promising way to attack complex problems that call upon the skill, knowledge, and experience of a wide range of stake- holders in order to be successful and sustainable. The key motives for private-sector engagement in public-benefit partnerships are multiple, including: – An acknowledgement that the private sector often has the resources and expertise that are critical in resolving complex challenges; – A growing expectation from investors, customers, employees, and other stakeholders that business plays an important role as a corporate citizen in addressing critical societal issues; – Companies’ increasing recognition that they have a social responsibility that goes beyond producing services and goods and securing jobs—a responsibility that stems from the realization of the interdependence among their operations and the health, climate, and humanitarian challenges of the markets in which they operate; – The insight among companies that making money and doing good are not mutually exclusive; and – The notion that social responsibility not only carries business benefits but helps manage risks and foster strong relationships in societies where companies source or sell, and that it provides them with access to knowledge and opportunities they might otherwise not have. Including NGOs, UN agencies, foundations, and bilateral development agencies. The Spirit Behind the Business Guide
  • 7. © 2007 Dalberg Global Development Advisors While these partnerships are necessary to resolve complex societal problems, the number of successful examples is still limited in both relative and absolute terms. Some of the key constraints include: – The lack of familiarity between the sectors and the high entry barriers in terms of goodwill and trust; – The difficulty faced by companies in identifying appropriate social actors and successful partnership models due to a lack of market transparency; – The challenges faced by NGOs in figuring out how to partner with businesses without compromising the integrity of their mission; and – The limited clarity for many social actors on how to build relevant partnering attributes and capabilities. The aspirational benefits of the guide This guide was born out of the belief that if companies are aware of the success of other businesses in engaging in partnerships, they themselves will be more inclined to seriously consider the prospects of partnering. Thus, the overarching aspiration of this business guide is to increase the number of partnerships and the quality and impact of those partnerships. Through three distinct avenues we have tried to create a product that helps both companies and social actors prepare themselves for partner- ship building: – Transparency: The publication is an attempt to create greater transparency in the market- place by identifying successful partnership examples. The enclosed organizational profiles enable companies to sort and identify partners based on geography, strengths, focus areas, etc., making it significantly easier to find the right partner. – Access: The guide provides readers with contact information and highlights topics around which profiled organizations are interested in creating partnerships. Thus, it will be easy for companies to make a connection with an appropriate organization on an issue of relevance to both of them. – Role models: The guide showcases social actors and partnerships that have been success- ful, hopefully displaying some of the important factors—such as execution capa­bilities, accountability, and entrepreneurship—that companies are looking for in partners.
  • 8. Business guide to partnering with NGOs and the UN Design principles and approach This guide is not a comprehensive directory of all great social actors with partnering capabilities. We recognize that there are successful partnerships that have not made their way into this publication. Our hope is to see included an increasing number of organizations in subsequent versions of this guide during the next few years, as more companies and social actors become familiar with the guide and its purpose. As this guide is a first attempt at exploring the state of partnerships between companies and social actors, the criteria for inclusion can, and will, undoubtedly change over time. At this point, the choice of criteria represents the authors’ serious and good-faith effort to provide useful market information in a fair way. Some of the key design principles around the guide have been: – Inclusivity: Experts representing various stakeholders were included from the outset to ensure that the product is as robust and credible as possible. – Affordability: Rather than apply a high price point, as one finds with traditional industry reports, an effort has been made to keep this publication at a price point that enables all interested organizations to access the information. – Flexibility of Design: The long-term aspirations are to move toward a dynamic online platform, where companies and social actors can meet, information can be constantly updated, and organizations can learn from each other. The total number of responses is relatively modest in size compared to the potential universe of players—and may not be geographically balanced, which we expect to see improved in the future. We also hope to develop in future years a complementary rating in which social actors assess excellent companies to partner with. Although this guide is a modest start at identifying the global state of partnerships, we hope that the examples highlighted can serve as an inspiration for both social actors and companies, and help push the frontier of possibility in addressing global issues. Henrik Skovby David Bonbright Robert H. Dunn Founding Partner Chief Executive President and CEO Dalberg Keystone The Synergos Institute
  • 9. © 2007 Dalberg Global Development Advisors The United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest voluntary corporate citizenship initiative, has partnered with Dalberg Global Development Advisors, a strategy firm in the field of global development, to identify a group of non-profit social actors (including civil society organizations, bilateral development agencies and UN Agencies/Funds/Programmes) who have proven compe- tence in partnering with companies. The work was conducted in collaboration with a strong set of supporters, spanning some of the most highly regarded players in the corporate citizenship sector, including Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF),American Chambers of Commerce, International Chambers of Commerce (ICC), World Bank Institute (WBI), World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD), and CSR Wire. Dalberg created and distributed a survey to more than 20,000 companies worldwide to collect data on their partnership experiences with social actors. We received 865 valid partnership ratings from 445 companies, who rated social actors on the basis of their accountability , adaptability , execution , and communication (for further details see the section ”How to read the profiles”). Upon careful analysis of the responses, the following salient findings emerged: Most respondents either currently partner with NGOs/UN agencies or intend to partner in the future Almost two thirds of respondents (61%) had engaged in partnerships with social actors over the past 3 years. An overwhelming 88% of companies without prior partnership experience voiced interest in doing so in the future. The 12% of inexperienced companies that did not express interest cited absence of common areas for partnership. Companies believe that partnerships with NGOs and UN agencies are increasing in importance The vast majority of companies agree that partnerships will gain in importance in the future. More precisely, 73% of all respondents concluded that corporate partnerships would be impor- tant or extremely important for their own company over the next 3 years, and about 61% of respondents indicated that corporate partnership would be ”important” or ”extremely important” for the market as a whole. Companies with prior partnership experience were more bullish about the future importance of partnerships, reflecting positively on their experience partnering with social actors. The partner’s dedication to upholding a strong relationship with the company it has partnered with. The partner’s capacity to understand and utilize the strengths and weaknesses of your organization to work towards a common objective. The partner’s ability to transform plans and intentions into successful partnerships. The quality of timely and concise information throughout the partnership. Those responding ”extremely important” or ”important” to the question: ”Please rate how important you feel partnerships between companies and NGOs/the UN will be in the future”. Other possible responses included ”Somewhat Important”, ”Important”, ”Not Very Important”, ”Not Important At All”. Executive summary
  • 10. Business guide to partnering with NGOs and the UN Question: How important do you think partnerships will be in the next 3 years? Percent responding ”extremely important” or ”very important” Successfully implementing effective and relevant CSR programs and building trust with stakeholders are top priorities for companies when partnering An overwhelming majority of respondents cited successful implementation of effective and relevant CSR programs as the main reason for partnering with NGOs and UN organizations. This reason was closely followed by the desire to build trust with shareholders. Companies were least likely to partner to gain insight from the know-how of social actor partners or to advance core business objectives. In a partnership, companies most value their partner’s accountability and execution skills Companies rated Accountability and Execution as being the most important performance categories in their evaluation of partners. The data also indicate a strong correlation between the overall scores of the four rating categories and the perceived impact of the partnership. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 For the market For my organization 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 For the market For my organization Percent responding “extemely important” or “very important” Companies with no prior partnership experience Percent responding “extemely important” or “very important” Companies with prior partnership experience 81 64 61 55 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 For the market For my organization 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 For the market For my organization Percent responding “extemely important” or “very important” Companies with no prior partnership experience Percent responding “extemely important” or “very important” Companies with prior partnership experience 81 64 61 55 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 5 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Successfully implement effective and relevant CSR programs Build trust with stakeholders Engage in corporate citizenship Improve employee morale Enhance the company’s reputation Advancing core business opbjectives Gain insight from know-how of partner Based on a scale of 1 to 6, with 6 reflecting the most important reason Reasons that companies partner with social actors
  • 11. © 2007 Dalberg Global Development Advisors Partnerships incorporating both local and global elements were more highly rated than either purely local or global partnerships 63% of partnerships were local, 33% global, and 3% incorporated both global and local elements. Partnerships that involved both global and local activities typically scored the highest, with an average score of 4.5 (out of a maximum of 5). Global partnerships had an average score of 4.0, while local partnerships had an average score of 3.9. That said, comments from survey respondents highlight the importance of local partnerships, e.g., from a global 50 energy company, ”For MNE [multi-national enterprises], local partnerships to deliver on business objectives are essential.” Core business and advocacy partnerships are perceived to have higher impact than those focused on philanthropy 26% of partnerships were purely Philanthropic in nature, 21% related only to a company’s Core Business, and 15% focused on Advocacy and Awareness. The remaining partnerships were composed of multiple elements, e.g. 50% of all partnerships involved an element of philanthropy. Interestingly, partnerships conducted in the Advocacy and Awareness, and Core Business areas had a higher perceived overall impact than those involved purely in philanthropy. Both at the local and global levels, companies are most likely to engage in partnerships on education and environmental protection Locally, companies were most likely to engage in partnerships in the education sector (39%), and globally, in the area of environmental protection (33%). These are also the two most common areas for partnerships envisioned in the long term. The emphasis on environmental protection is reinforced by the fact that almost a quarter of the 34 leading global NGOs focus on the environment. As one respondent reflected, ”I think people are realizing the need for global solutions for global problems rather than national or enterprise solutions.” Philanthropy and Social Investment: Donating time (volunteers), money, products and the use of premises; Advocacy and Awareness: Awareness-raising campaigns, projects that influence decision-makers and collective actions that set rules, norms and standards; Core Business: Creating employment, fostering entrepreneurship, implementing social, environmental or ethical standards, and/or providing affordable goods and services (projects should be linked to the sourcing, manufacturing, development, distribution, pricing and end-use of a company’s products and services). Advocacy and Awareness (126) None (34) (88) (73) (46) (92) Philanthropy and Social Investment (228) Core Business (178) Number of partnerships (”None” signifies no allocation by the company) Types of partnerships
  • 12. 10Business guide to partnering with NGOs and the UN Microfinance, rated as one of the most successful areas of partnership, is one of the least pursued areas The three most pursued areas of partnership were in the spheres of Education, Environmental Protection and Communications. Microfinance represented only 5% of partnerships, but received the highest scores compared to any other area. Microfinance also had one of the highest overall impact scores. Temporary shelter, power generation, and transportation were the lowest scoring partnership areas. Area of partnership Average Score Microfinance 4.17 Employment Opportunities 4.12 Food 4.12 Healthcare 4.12 Support Economy 4.11 Protect Environment 4.06 Agriculture and fisheries 4.06 Women’s Rights 4.04 Volunteering/Secondment 4.03 Education 4.01 Employment Fairness/Treatment 3.96 Communication 3.96 Health, Safety Quality of Products 3.95 Logistics 3.92 Search and Rescue 3.89 Sanitation 3.89 Water 3.89 Transportation 3.85 Power generation 3.68 Temporary Shelter 3.58 34 global NGOs/UN agencies and 53 local / regional NGOs emerged as leaders among the 554 NGOs/UN agencies rated The leading NGOs/UN agencies were identified as laid out in the section detailing the method­ ology. They span a diverse range of geographies and focus areas (please refer to the annex for the list of NGOs). 49% of the partnerships engaged in by the leading global NGOs are global, while 45% of those partnerships are actually local in nature. Global partnerships with global NGOs scored higher than local partnerships with global NGOs. North American companies and the leading global NGOs/UN agencies were most likely to be engaged in core business-type partnerships, while companies in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East were more likely to be involved in advocacy and awareness raising partnerships. Latin American NGOs dominate the local / regional ”hidden gems” list Of the organizations on the list of ”hidden gems” (NGOs that are local but have been rated favourably by companies with partnership experience), Latin America represents 40%. Note that this Advance Release does not list all local NGOs as 14 of the 53 are still under due diligence.
  • 13. 11© 2007 Dalberg Global Development Advisors This may be in part due to the fact the private sector in Latin America is slightly more developed than in other developing regions. Also, while 86% of local partnerships were between companies and social partners in the same region, 55% of partnerships engaged in by companies with social actors in regions outside their own locale were with social actors in Latin America. North American and Western European NGOs receive the highest overall scores (4.5 and 4.4 respectively, vs. 4.2 for Latin American NGOs) The top 5 areas for local partnerships are education, communications, volunteering, environmental protection, and healthcare. Partnerships need to be carefully planned, governed and monitored to ensure success While there is an increasing understanding that partnerships can help both sides deliver more effectively on common objectives, there is also the recognition that governance needs to be thought through carefully, and that the expectations of all partners need to be agreed upon in advance and carefully monitored. Global players need to improve governance disclosure, and here specifically with regard to the independence of their non-executive board members Out of the 34 global NGOs/UN agencies who emerged as leaders in the survey, 29 provided a profiling form that allowed for the verification of disclosure practices. Corporate governance guidelines outlining rules and recommendations providing the organization with a good corporate governance system were only available (even upon request) from about half of the global social actors profiled in this Report. To protect against potential fraud or mismanagement, a well-established feature of good gover- nance is the availability of independent non-executive directors on a board. In the absence, of a universally accepted definition of independence, NGOs and UN agencies were asked if they communicated their definition to allow for an assessment of the independent element on the board. Only about a third could respond positively to this question. Information Disclosed Corporate Governance Guidelines 55% (16 out of 29) Definition of Independence of Board Members 34% (10 out of 29) Western Europe (11) Sub-Saharan Africa (3) North America (8) Middle East/ North Africa (1) Latin America (20) Eastern Europe (2) Asia Pacific (8) Number of “hidden gems” per region