Measuring the Impacts of NGO Partnerships: The Corporate and Societal Benefits of Community Involvement

Purpose – This paper aims to address partnerships between corporations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) dedicated to corporate community involvement (CCI). It seeks to focus on how to measure both business and community benefits derived from CCI, especially stressing the need for developing indicators beyond the input level considering outputs and impacts.

Design/methodology/approach – This paper follows a case study research strategy in a subsidiary of a multinational chemical and pharmaceutical company. Data collection is based on triangulation of data using interviews, action research, and documents.

Findings – Based on the case study presented, it was found that, when CCI is an integral part of corporate strategy, it is also possible to develop advanced performance measurement systems for CCI. Such measurement systems include input, output, and impact level metrics for both community and business benefits. Community benefits are best developed and monitored in collaboration with the NGO partner. Further, it was found that the measuring frequency partly transcends conventional reporting periods.

Practical implications – The research should motivate companies that engage in corporate community involvement to go beyond input-level metrics in measuring the success of such initiatives. However, in order to successfully operate a performance monitoring on output and impact levels, partnering with an NGO that has greater capability in socio-economic assessments is key.

Originality/value – This paper shows how NGOs can contribute to performance measurement as part of the strategic performance management system of a corporation and how this allows for metrics beyond common input-level to address output or even impact-level metrics.