All good points, Perry, and helpful examples. But in some ways this is the low-hanging fruit, since it’s relatively easier for large corporations and large NGOs to find ways to work together on initiatives like these. The more challenging situations involve small charities operating in remote environments—e.g., a small charity working to bring solar lighting products to poor smallholder farmers in Tanzania (a made-up example, but no doubt there is such a group). These groups don’t have the connections they might need to large corporations, and the problem they’re solving often does not scale into a large enough opportunity to make it attractive to large businesses. We need mechanisms for bringing these small NGOs to the attention of corporations, too, and for exploring ways in which they can partner efficiently.
COMMENTS
BY Paul Petruccelli
ON December 28, 2015 06:55 AM
All good points, Perry, and helpful examples. But in some ways this is the low-hanging fruit, since it’s relatively easier for large corporations and large NGOs to find ways to work together on initiatives like these. The more challenging situations involve small charities operating in remote environments—e.g., a small charity working to bring solar lighting products to poor smallholder farmers in Tanzania (a made-up example, but no doubt there is such a group). These groups don’t have the connections they might need to large corporations, and the problem they’re solving often does not scale into a large enough opportunity to make it attractive to large businesses. We need mechanisms for bringing these small NGOs to the attention of corporations, too, and for exploring ways in which they can partner efficiently.