By Jo Zaremba A stimulating discussion was had at our curated Advocacy Partnerships session with The Partnering Initiative this morning at Business Fights Poverty’s flagship Oxford conference. Panellists and the audience shared case studies demonstrating how business can make a significant contribution to the SDGs, but also raising practical, ethical, intellectual and moral challenges. The diversity of […]
by Calvin Jennings The development system is shifting and new structures of funding are accelerating the pace of change. Partnership remains essential, but the scope, scale, and systems behind new partnership models and investments are reframing relationships between development actors. There is a desire for transformational change and here we take a look at the […]
By Rachael Clay, Director, Ethicore What do experienced collaborators advise we prepare for the future of partnerships? Kate Wylie (Global Sustainability Director at Mars), David Croft (Global Sustainability Development Director at Diageo), Laura Kelly (Head of Business Engagement Hub, DfID) and Alex Lankester (Head of Corporate Partnerships at Oxfam GB) joined me to discuss this on […]
BY Jane Thurlow, Ethicore Associate Business, NGOs and institutions alike, are working towards sustainable development. It takes a deep understanding of the issues and opportunities, a bold focus on social and environmental impact and new partnerships to transform lives and businesses. All this, while we lead our own organisations. So, what does it mean […]
We have been exploring social value recently. Why? Because business needs to get better at analysing and communicating the value it adds to sustainable development.
At a meeting with an international NGO last week I was asked for three trends for the ‘business of development’. Based on research we have been conducting over the past year, here are the three ‘N’s that rose to the top.
The role of business in development is maturing. Partnership is moving out of a position in philanthropy, firmly in to new business development, which in NGO language, means new models for development. This week, discussions about building a new global partnership with business, convened by Business Action for Africa, really delved in to the stuff […]
NGO and Corporate partnerships: is language one of the main barriers in making useful connections? It would be naive of me to suggest that NGO and Corporate partnerships (MNC) are the new, perfectly harmonious, utopian partnerships that will drive the ‘for purpose’ agenda forward. However, it is equally naive to think that all partnerships are […]
In a recent 2 Degrees discussion forum on whether consumers will pay for sustainability, Chris Coulter@GlobeScan made an excellent strategic point: “This is not so much about ‘will consumers pay for sustainability’ but more about how can companies committed to sustainable performance (at both the corporate and product level) leverage their investments to make them more […]
Starting a project with some good social media listening, a solid piece of market insight and a piece of stakeholder research can give you the kind of insight that allows you to leap forwards. It takes time to go from information to insight, but it is worth it. Research is also critical to evaluate performance, whether through surveys, social media […]