{"id":1217,"date":"2025-10-02T04:04:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T04:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/the-challenge-of-the-social-partnership\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T04:04:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T04:04:12","slug":"the-challenge-of-the-social-partnership","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/blogs\/social-entrepreneurship\/the-challenge-of-the-social-partnership\/","title":{"rendered":"The Challenge Of The Social Partnership"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"content column wide left blog_post content view\" id=\"content\">\n<div class=\"edit image\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/var\/broker\/storage\/images\/blogs\/social-entrepreneurship\/the-challenge-of-the-social-partnership\/760099-1-eng-gb\/the-challenge-of-the-social-partnership_full_view.jpg\" alt=\"Partnership, core of our work \/ A. Yahyaoui\/CIMMYT via Flickr\">\n\t<\/div>\n<article class=\"fader\">\n<header class=\"contents\">\n<div class=\"share\">\n\t\t\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n    var addthis_config = {\n        ui_language = 'en'\n    }\n<\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"addthis sharing\">\n\t<!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><\/p>\n<div class=\"addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style addthis_32x32_style\" addthis:title=\"The challenge of the social partnership\">\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_twitter\" tw:via=\"thebrokeronline\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_facebook\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_pinterest_share\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_preferred_4\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_compact\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_counter addthis_bubble_style\"><\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n<p>\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\">var addthis_config = data_track_addressbar;<\/script><br \/>\n\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/js\/300\/addthis_widget.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n\t<!-- AddThis Button END -->\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"addthis article_options\">\n\t\t<!-- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/mandrill\/subscription\/add\/79123\/79587\">Subscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t -->\n    \t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe challenge of the social partnership<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"pubDate\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/experts-and-authors\/van-de-vijsel-annemarie\/\">Annemarie  van de Vijsel<\/a>\t\t|<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t14 July 2025\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"body contents\">\n\t<!-- body --><\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\"><b><\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">While establishing partnerships to have a greater social impact, social enterprises also face challenges.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">One of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/ccm_eztag_find\/main\/search_t[contenttypes]-t[][12798]-t[][10763]\/\" target=\"_blank\">challenges that many social enterprises face<\/a> is being able to compete on prices while at the same time having enough money to make a social impact. At the \u2018Social enterprise in development\u2019 expert meeting hosted by <a href=\"http:\/\/social-enterprise.nl\/\" target=\"_blank\">Social Enterprise NL<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cordaid.nl\/\" target=\"_blank\">Cordaid<\/a> in Amsterdam on 19 June, Mark Hillen said that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/articles\/the-emerging-social-enterprise\/\" target=\"_blank\">having a social impact<\/a> must be the most important aim for social entrepreneurs. Making a profit is not unacceptable, but it has to be reasonable. The enterprise must be independent and therefore, financially self-sustaining. In addition, it is logical that the social enterprise itself acts socially in its operations. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">To ensure significant social impact and some form of financial security, social enterprises establish partnerships with NGOs, private companies and\/or governments. This certainly has benefits. Mayke Harding of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bopinc.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">BoP Inc.<\/a> listed a number of them: upscaling is easier, and a social enterprise can make use of the skills of the other parties and gain easier access to informal networks and new markets. And, importantly, the NGOs in the partnership can provide a \u2018license to operate\u2019, as they have local connections in developing countries and have most likely acquired legitimacy among the local population and institutions. For new or small social enterprises alone, it can take some time to build such a local network.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">Nevertheless, social entrepreneurs do face challenges when establishing partnerships. While achieving a social impact is the most important determinant of a social business, providing evidence for it is difficult. For example, in tendering procedures issued by government or NGOs, as Simon Postma of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hospitainer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Hospitainer<\/a> explained: \u201cCompeting enterprises may say they are cheaper, at least in the short run, and may therefore be awarded the subsidy. But their products may also last for a shorter time and have less social impact.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">Another challenge that social entrepreneurs face in partnerships, according to Lisa Harteveld of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.texttochange.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Text to Change<\/a>, is that the roles and responsibilities of partners are not always clearly determined, and they do not always fulfil them. Several participants emphasized the importance of partners seeing the advantage of cooperating with a social enterprise before they enter into a partnership. This can be especially difficult when cooperating with large companies. Social enterprises have to anticipate this by also seeing the partnership from the perspective of the company, and trying to find links between the goals and method of the partnership and the mission of the company.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">In addition, Mayke Harding said that partnerships can do a better job at managing mutual expectations by adhering to a few principles: \u201cformally assigning a skilled, business-minded leader within the partnership, investing in connecting with the right partners, building in flexibility along bottom of the pyramid business development phases, and mobilizing internal resources are key\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">During the meeting, the phenomenon of partnerships itself also evoked critical questions. One participant asked whether we can speak of a partnership when all parties receive subsidies, and are therefore not financially self-sustainable. Another question related to the choice of partners: does the kind of partnership you choose determine what kind of social enterprise you are? In Harding\u2019s view, this depends on the social values and actions of the large company you want to partner with. Another participant asked whether it is acceptable to partner with a large company that reaches many people if you want to have widespread impact, even if the company engages in harmful activities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">From the perspective of a large company, Maarten van Herpen of the Philips Africa Innovation Hub said that if you make profits, like companies do, your impact may be larger, because you can provide more products by selling them than by giving them away for free, as social enterprises may do since profit-making is not their explicit aim.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">The Philips Africa Innovation Hub is, in Van Herpen\u2019s words, a \u201ccorporate social enterprise within the company\u201d. As a large and internationally operating company, it may indeed reach many people with products that are adapted to local circumstances. The question remains, though, whether this social enterprise within a profit-driven company will survive if it starts to make a loss?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">\n<p class=\"credit\">Photo credit main picture: Partnership, core of our work \/ A. Yahyaoui\/CIMMYT via Flickr<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<!-- body -->\n\t<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<section class=\"commentform content column wide left\">\n<div class=\"disqus_content\">\n\t\t\t<a name=\"comments\" id=\"comments\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"disqus_thread\"><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\t\t\t\t\/* * * CONFIGURATION VARIABLES: EDIT BEFORE PASTING INTO YOUR WEBPAGE * * *\/\n\t\t\t\tvar disqus_shortname = 'broker'; \/\/ required: replace example with your forum shortname\n\t\t\t\tvar disqus_identifier = '14980';\n\t\t\t\t\/* * * DON'T EDIT BELOW THIS LINE * * *\/\n\t\t\t\tfunction trackComment(comment)\n\t\t\t\t{\n\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(comment);\n\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\tfunction disqus_config() {\n\t\t\t\t\tthis.callbacks.onNewComment = [function() { \n\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(comment);\n\t\t\t\t\t}];\n\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\t(function() {\n\t\t\t\t\tvar dsq = document.createElement('script'); dsq.type = 'text\/javascript'; dsq.async = true;\n\t\t\t\t\tdsq.src = '\/\/' + disqus_shortname + 'https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/blogs\/social-entrepreneurship\/.disqus.com\/embed.js';\n\t\t\t\t\t(document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0] || document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0]).appendChild(dsq);\n\t\t\t\t})();\n\t\t\t<\/script><br \/>\n\t\t\t<!--\n\t\t\t<noscript>Please enable JavaScript to view the <a href=\"http:\/\/disqus.com\/?ref_noscript\">comments powered by Disqus.<\/a><\/noscript>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"http:\/\/disqus.com\" class=\"dsq-brlink\">comments powered by <span class=\"logo-disqus\">Disqus<\/span><\/a>\n\t\t\t-->\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false,"raw":""},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The challenge of the social partnership Annemarie van de [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template_2.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1217","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - 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