SOCIAL IMPACT PARTNERSHIPS
SOLVING SOCIAL CHALLENGES
By Sana Bagersh
Many public sector entities do not properly engage productively with external entities because of the way their own institutions are structured and the manner in which they conduct their day to day operations.
This is a lost opportunity for government as indeed if approached correctly many companies, as well as universities, nonprofits, venture capitalist groups etc would be interested to engage with government to help create new solutions to solve real world needs.
Public sector leaders can attract high- value partnerships. One way to choose private sector partners, apart from their capabilities, is to pull them in by articulating the government’s social values, and share the social challenges that need to be solved. This could attract the right kind of partnerships, with like-minded entities. By and large, working with the government holds great appeal for special groups and young professionals who are motivated to contribute to programmes that delivers social impact.
Attracting the larger entities is even easier as most big companies, especially multinationals, have innovation or intrapreneurship departments to drive new ideas and develop new solutions. These are often part of their CSR and community engagement programming, and they use these collaborations to explore broadening their product and service offerings.
LINKING WITH CORPORATE CSR PROGRAMMES
Private sector companies sometimes run their own CSR programmes, where they offer support to small businesses, women’s groups and community organizations etc They welcome innovation-focused partnerships with the government especially if there is quality PR to come out. This kind of co-branding with the government can greatly enhance their reputation building efforts, and positioning them in the social impact space.
Some of these strategies can extend nicely into the private public partnerships arrangements where the government awards a company a project to work but also expects the company to deliver community-focused value. So the chosen government supplier may also be obligated to deliver a programme that focuses on community services, such as education or entrepreneurship empowerment etc.
INCENTIVIZING THE PRIVATE SECTOR
Apart from the PPP format there are other ways that the government can incentivize the public sector to work or them, and this could be through a direct grant or fellowship endowment. The latter is usually used to reward research into gnawing problems that require certain knowledge or expertise that the public sector doesn’t have. An ongoing grant or endowment programme can help bring in innovative solutions and attract quality talent.
The more government opens up to work with external entities, the more it can broaden its reach, insights and actual impact.
Excerpted from
What A Leader Should Be