This post examines the role of Corporate Storytelling in promoting NGO partnerships and why the storytelling focus needs to be adapted for each partner’s needs.
Anyone who has ever worked for an NGO will know about the emphasis placed on working in partnership with other organizations. In truth, one doesn’t even really need to work (or have worked) for an NGO to know this: the concept of partnership is routinely promoted by NGOs in much of their publicity material. The word ‘partner’ and its variants hold pride of place on organizational websites and social media accounts, in annual reports and brochures, on banners and Powerpoint presentations. ‘Partnership’ is seen as inherently positive, a form of engagement with external bodies that will create some form of value for your own organization.
‘Partnership’ is seen as inherently positive, a form of engagement with external bodies that will create some form of value for your own organization.
Defining what we mean by ‘partnership’
How can Corporate Storytelling help with this? We need to first revisit what ‘partnership’ means. Clearly on one level it means something along the lines of ‘working with others towards a common goal’. The US-based Strengthening Civil Society (SCS Global) Program has a couple of great working definitions on its website, NGO Connect. Their ‘NGO Tips‘ page – which should be recommended reading for anyone new to the sector – touches on the differences between ‘partnership’, and ‘public relations’ or ‘networking’:
Building partnerships is about relationships that are in-depth, involve a few carefully selected targets and have specific, practical goals. It is different from public relations or networking where activities are likely to be less in-depth, involve many more targets, and be for the general purposes of information-sharing and solidarity. Organizations use different words to refer to partnerships—external relations, strategic alliances, etc…
The description also goes into why organizations enter into partnerships in the first place. Three broad reasons are outlined: an expansion of expertise; increased operational efficiency and scale; and a response to trends in funding. I agree – ideally, partnership can help an NGO leverage the resources and expertise (in the broadest sense of both words) of like-minded organizations, making it possible to achieve more working with others than it could alone.
Several different kinds of partnership
Partnership also takes many forms. It covers a broad range of approaches, from joint projects to formal alliances and sometimes even mergers. Another glance at SCS Global’s analysis can be instructive as it divides partnership into four distinct categories. The first, bilateral partnerships, often have a single purpose and are therefore more easy to define, as are the precise parameters of who does what and why. The second, ‘mono-structural consortia’ is a collaboration of organizations usually focused in one particular area or sector. These consortia have “come together to offer a focused product range, which can in turn be adapted to different concepts and contexts”. As long as what each organization offers remains distinct enough, their respective strengths should be enhanced.
The third category of partnership is ‘multi-structural consortia’, those that are cross-sectoral. These not only bring together NGOs and civil society organizations, but also the public and private sectors. The advantage of this approach is that by presenting a united front taking into account every different point of view on a given topic, the partnership is much more likely to influence policy and secure further funding. ‘Networking’ is the final category. This is the loosest structure of all, and “may exist to address a particular issue or theme, serve a certain client group, or to cultivate other types of partnerships”.
Partnership also takes many forms. It covers a broad range of approaches, from joint projects to formal alliances and sometimes even mergers.
NGOs as convenor and facilitator of partnerships
So far, so good. But a central challenge for many NGOs is the role they play in the partnership structure and process. As with UN agencies, NGOs often act as a convenor and facilitator for these partnerships. A core element of their remit is to bring together different types of organizations and encourage them – at times, literally – to sit down at the same table and discuss topics of mutual concern. These organizations range from local and central governments, to UN agencies and other NGOs, to Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and Community Based Organizations (CBOs), to local businesses and large corporations. The list is not meant to be exhaustive, but I hope gives at least some idea of quite how varied partner organizations can be.
As with UN agencies, NGOs often act as a convenor and facilitator for these partnerships.
It should come as no surprise, therefore, that working in partnership is not necessarily a straightforward process. These relationships need to be carefully balanced. But balancing competing priorities and points of view is never likely to be easy. If an NGO fails to properly nurture these partnerships or is perceived to be favouring one partner over another, it will not only damage its credibility but may also fail in its core mission. It could even collapse entirely.
If an NGO fails to properly nurture these partnerships or is perceived to be favouring one partner over another, it will not only damage its credibility but may also fail in its core mission.
Separate key messages for each category of partner
It is my view that Corporate Storytelling can help obviate these dangerous outcomes. Effective, well-told stories with the appropriate strategic focus can help bring potential partners on board and then keep them there. This means that an NGO’s focus on each partner will necessarily be slightly different. By establishing and then reiterating the separate key messages that need to be directed towards its partners, an NGO can smooth its way towards achieving its core mission.
By establishing and then reiterating the separate key messages that need to be directed towards its partners, an NGO can smooth its way towards achieving its core mission.
It’s not partners should be placed in some form of hierarchy of priority – as the working definition laid out by SCS Global makes clear, all partnerships should be based on mutual trust and respect – but that different aspects of the partnership’s outcomes should be emphasized. This also means that the style and language of communicating with different partners needs to be tailored appropriately.
Communicating with partners on different topics
For instance, if an NGO partners with a large company to help make its supply chain more sustainable, it could emphasize how that company’s ROI will be maintained, or perhaps even increased. This doesn’t mean that the NGO shouldn’t discuss other issues with them, such as say, levels of deforestation, conservation challenges, or workers’ and indigenous people’s rights. Indeed, given the increasingly important emphasis on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors, most companies would almost certainly welcome the focus on these other areas. But profit margin will always remain the bottom line for them, and this the NGO cannot avoid.
Similarly, an NGO would find itself in difficulties if it insisted on speaking to other partners purely about the partner company’s profit. It would be approaching understatement to suggest that an expert in conservation would not be primarily interested in the financial gain made by an international corporation. Again, that doesn’t mean the topic should be avoided – far from it – but the focus when communicating with the conservationist must be different. The NGO might stress, for instance, how the natural environment is now better protected, or perhaps emphasize that the local habitat has been safeguarded for future generations.
It would be approaching understatement to suggest that an expert in conservation would not be primarily interested in the financial gain made by an international corporation.
In conclusion, Corporate Storytelling can help NGOs build and cement the relationships necessary for successful and effective partnerships. It should focus on the different advantages for each partner, and must also stress that the overall outcome, the reason for which the partnership was first formed, would be less achievable without each of its constituent members. Indeed, without the NGO’s crucial role of convenor, the partnership may not have existed at all, and the common goal merely wishful thinking.
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