Achieving Effective Inter Sector Alliances

Willis WL¹*

1. Venture Group Ltd, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Businesses are encouraged to see engagement with community/not for profit/charitable organisations as a responsibility. This often results in arms length relationships known as philanthropy and these handouts are made with little strategic thought and application. No consideration has been given to developing a ‘partnership process’ that would maximise the value created for both parties.

A business should plan and carefully select a community partner just as it would with a merger and acquisition. It requires a strategic partnership view where objectives are best aligned, how organisational goals are best met and resources leveraged for maximise use. This provides the ‘business case’ for community engagement.

The onus for finding optimum value in these partnerships, though, is not businesses alone. The community/not for profit/charitable sector needs to interact and contribute to this process as well. As it continues to grow and competition for resources increase, intra and inter sector collaboration, will become an essential strategic tool to for them to add capacity, skills, and increase scale.

Identifying the most appropriate business or community partner and developing an ‘effective’ partnership requires a process of ‘alignment’ that locates and articulates the ‘value to be created’ for both parties – ie the ‘sweet spot’.

An ‘alignment’ process results in alliances of mutual benefit that create more than the sum of their parts.

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