• News
    • Latest news
    • News search
    • Health
    • Finance
    • Food
    • Career news
    • Content series
    • Try Devex Pro
  • Jobs
    • Job search
    • Post a job
    • Employer search
    • CV Writing
    • Upcoming career events
    • Try Career Account
  • Funding
    • Funding search
    • Funding news
  • Talent
    • Candidate search
    • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Events
    • Upcoming and past events
    • Partner on an event
  • Post a job
  • About
      • About us
      • Membership
      • Newsletters
      • Advertising partnerships
      • Devex Talent Solutions
      • Contact us
Join DevexSign in
Join DevexSign in

News

  • Latest news
  • News search
  • Health
  • Finance
  • Food
  • Career news
  • Content series
  • Try Devex Pro

Jobs

  • Job search
  • Post a job
  • Employer search
  • CV Writing
  • Upcoming career events
  • Try Career Account

Funding

  • Funding search
  • Funding news

Talent

  • Candidate search
  • Devex Talent Solutions

Events

  • Upcoming and past events
  • Partner on an event
Post a job

About

  • About us
  • Membership
  • Newsletters
  • Advertising partnerships
  • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Contact us
  • My Devex
  • Update my profile % complete
  • Account & privacy settings
  • My saved jobs
  • Manage newsletters
  • Support
  • Sign out
Latest newsNews searchHealthFinanceFoodCareer newsContent seriesTry Devex Pro
    • Funding
    • Business Advice: Cross-sector Partnerships

    How NGOs can best work with corporate partners

    Cross-sector and public-private partnerships are becoming more common. Here are some ways on how nongovernmental organizations can develop lasting and productive partnerships with interested private corporations.

    By Minal Bopaiah // 24 September 2012
    Oxfam Novib and SCA, a top producer of personal care products sealed a partnership to help children in Sudan. Photo by: SCA Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget / CC BY-NC-SA

    Private sector investment in the developing world dwarfs official development assistance and yet nongovernmental organizations have long had a rocky relationship with the corporate sector.

    But that is changing now as public-private and cross-sector partnerships are becoming more common. However, both sides have yet to still come up with concrete ways on how to create a partnership that works.

    For example, technology giant Hewlett-Packard had a traditional corporate social responsibility department up until three years ago, when the company decided to step back and look at what potential it had in creating sustainable growth and innovation, not just transactional grantmaking. After some consideration, HP established a sustainability and social innovation department, which focuses on using the company’s assets, including employee volunteer time, to engage and work hand-in-hand with multilateral partners.

    “We believe working together collaboratively creates better solutions, and also more sustainable solutions,” Paul Ellingstad, HP’s partnership and program development director, told Devex during the Millennium Campus Conference in Boston.

    As corporations are becoming increasingly open to collaboration, NGOs and other potential partners now have more opportunities for program expansion and funding innovation. In order to better explore the potential of this partnership and find the ideal working relationship, NGOs must take the following into account when entering into a joint endeavor with a corporate partner:

    • Look for a like-minded partner. “One of the first things we like, like in any other type of relationship, is sincerity, genuineness, purpose, transparency – you know, being very clear about what you’re trying to achieve and how you want to work with others,” Ellingstad said.

    • Define the problem and make sure it lines up with the corporation’s social mission. For example, HP is most interested in education, entrepreneurship, health and community involvement. Microsoft, on the other hand, only works with nonprofits looking to build IT capacity (either by human skills or infrastructure) in order to create jobs in under-served communities.

    • Know the other players. The NGO should do a 360-degree study of the other key stakeholders involved in solving the same problem. In fact, Ellingstad suggested that NGOs approach HP’s key strategic partners before approaching HP for funding.

    • Establish monitoring mechanisms that align with your mission. For example, HP is focused on sustainable growth but some NGOs feel the pressure to produce results quickly.

    “While that might create nice press releases in the short term, generally it doesn’t create sustainable solutions,” Ellingstad added.

    NGOs should also be aware that not all corporations are interested in being pitched. For example, Microsoft does not accept solicitations for funding. Instead, the company has “staff on the ground” looking for “nonprofit organizations that are building capacity through technology,” Akhtar Badshah, senior director of Microsoft’s citizenship and public affairs office, said. The company’s only open solicitation process is through its strategic partner TechSoup, which donates software to 501©3 organizations.

    At one point, Ellingstad described HP’s partner selection process as almost like “dating,” but NGOs might be better served by looking at it as a “marriage.” Corporate partners can be effective breadwinners, but the relationship is only good if you have the same approach and philosophy toward development. In fact, Ellingstad said that HP is likely to reject any NGO with a “prescriptive” attitude toward development.

    “At times we get individuals and organizations that are, perhaps, very impatient, very absolute in terms of ‘We know what the problem is, we know what the solution is.’ [They] tend not to fit as well,” he said.

    This is all still very heartening because, while funding hoops still exist, it is encouraging that corporations are creating the types of funding structures and partnerships that really promote sustainable growth and development.

    Read more:

    • How the Cherie Blair Foundation approaches partnerships

    • Sustainable water: A strong case for cross-sector cooperation

    • Private Sector
    • Economic Development
    Printing articles to share with others is a breach of our terms and conditions and copyright policy. Please use the sharing options on the left side of the article. Devex Pro members may share up to 10 articles per month using the Pro share tool ( ).

    About the author

    • Minal Bopaiah

      Minal Bopaiah@brevityandwit

      Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Minal Bopaiah is a writer, editor and media consultant at Brevity & Wit. Minal has held consultancy positions at a number of international media outlets, including The International, a startup website committed to fostering nonviolent conflict resolution though ethical reporting, and MediaGlobal, a United Nations-affiliated news agency dedicated to reporting on development in the global South.

    Search for articles

    Related Jobs

    • Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Sector Advisor (Fixed-Term)
      Jakarta, Indonesia | Indonesia | East Asia and Pacific
    • Individual Consultant: Railway Business Development Specialist
      Burundi | Tanzania | Central Africa | Eastern Africa
    • Administrator in Partnerships, Business Collaboration and Innovative Methods (Fixed-Term)
      Sundbyberg, Stockholm, Sweden | Stockholm, Sweden | Sweden | Western Europe
    • See more

    Most Read

    • 1
      Opinion: Mobile credit, savings, and insurance can drive financial health
    • 2
      FCDO's top development contractors in 2024/25
    • 3
      Strengthening health systems by measuring what really matters
    • 4
      Opinion: India’s bold leadership in turning the tide for TB
    • 5
      Reigniting momentum for maternal, newborn, and child health

    Trending

    Financing for Development Conference

    The Trump Effect

    Newsletters

    Related Stories

    Devex Pro LiveHow companies and aid implementers can engage with BII Plus

    How companies and aid implementers can engage with BII Plus

    Sponsored by The Pfizer FoundationSupporting community-driven solutions to address breast cancer

    Supporting community-driven solutions to address breast cancer

    Sponsored by The Power of NutritionOpinion: Let’s scale what already works in nutrition financing

    Opinion: Let’s scale what already works in nutrition financing

    Devex Pro LivePhilanthropy, blended finance, and the evolving role of NGOs

    Philanthropy, blended finance, and the evolving role of NGOs

    • News
    • Jobs
    • Funding
    • Talent
    • Events

    Devex is the media platform for the global development community.

    A social enterprise, we connect and inform over 1.3 million development, health, humanitarian, and sustainability professionals through news, business intelligence, and funding & career opportunities so you can do more good for more people. We invite you to join us.

    • About us
    • Membership
    • Newsletters
    • Advertising partnerships
    • Devex Talent Solutions
    • Post a job
    • Careers at Devex
    • Contact us
    © Copyright 2000 - 2025 Devex|User Agreement|Privacy Statement