CorpComms Magazine

Eight out of ten businesses believe that partnerships with NGOs will become more important over the next three years with 72 per cent anticipating a rise in investment in this arena in spite of the recession, reveals a new study.

Retailers, and supermarkets in particular, have established a strong reputation for their charitable endeavours. More than a third of the corporate-charity partnerships most admired by CSR practitioners were with the retail sector, with banks furnishing a further 17 per cent and soft drinks manufacturers boasting another seven per cent, according to the 2010 Barometer of Business Charity Partnerships by corporate responsibility consultancy C&E Advisory.

British retailer Marks and Spencer's collaboration with Oxfam was the most admired partnership, with 13 per cent of CSR professionals rating it the most highly. The includes the Clothes Exchange, where anyone donating an item of M&S clothing to the charity receives a £5 voucher to be redeemed on purchases of £35 or more at the store.

Second place was taken by HSBC and WWF's ambitious project to combat climate change - the favourite of eight per cent of CSR practitioners, and third went to Procter and Gamble and UNICEF's programme to provide tetanus shots in the developing world, winning the acclaim of seven per cent of industry peers.

Manny Amadi, chief executive of C&E Advisory, said: 'It is clear that the most admired partnerships deliver more than money to the voluntary sector and good PR for businesses. They help deliver corporate mission as part of sustained strategic programmes. It's also clear that many partnerships are failing to do this. Charities that focus solely on generating income and companies that focus solely on PR are missing genuine opportunities to build their business.'

Mike Barry, head of sustainable business at Marks & Spencer said: 'Some issues are too large to be tackled by consumers, businesses and even governments alone. That's why building strong, strategic partnerships is at the heart of Plan A, our sustainable business programme. We have a clear plan and want to work with partners to share knowledge, develop solutions and support causes which our employees and customers care about and which help us deliver the objectives in our plan.'

Although corporate responsibility practitioners recognise the key elements a successful business-charity partnership, noting that those that work best are mutually beneficial, innovate, deliver a corporate mission and fit with the company and NGO's brands, many worry they are falling short of these mission statements.

Company-charity partnerships are still not fully integrated into most firms' business agenda, with more corporate players considering these alliances beneficial to the CSR division than think them advantageous for the company as a whole. Six out of ten CSR practitioners fear that only half of their partnerships are strategic while 43 per cent of the industry considers the collaborations skewed in favour of the business.

In a slight twist on the conventional stereotypes, 94 per cent of companies consider the primary benefit of these partnerships to be an enhanced reputation, whereas the NGOs themselves are primarily in it for the money.

Charities are bending over backwards to secure a corporate alliance in order to generate resources. Ninety five per cent of charities ranked generating resources from corporate partnerships as the most important reason for partnering with companies, compared to just 69 per cent who felt the collaborations were critical in delivering their NGOs' mission.

Amadi added: 'Even when set against the current economic climate is undoubtedly confidence and optimism in the future of partnership working. The challenge now for many businesses and voluntary sector organisations is to leave tactical partnerships behind and focus on those that help deliver the mission of their organisation as part of sustained programmes. While innovating in this way may be challenging, it's obvious that the benefits are huge.'

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