Partnerships between non-governmental organizations (NGO), foundations or charities and corporate partners often open doors on new opportunities that can benefit both parties. But such partnerships can also carry a number of risks. Particularly when partnering with a company earning a bad reputation for irresponsible environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance – the reputations of partners can be easily harmed merely by the act of association. NGO/corporate relationships have the highest chance of success when these risks are identified and proactively addressed as early as possible, thereby allowing both parties to maintain credibility with their stakeholders. Our Partnership Risk Assessment service provides NGOs with the information they need to ensure that the corporate values of their potential partners are aligned with their own.

The Sustainalytics Partnership Risk Assessment service customizes our standardized, industry-specific evaluation framework to reflect the NGO’s mission and values and stakeholders’ expectations. This customized sustainability evaluation framework allows us to:

• Analyze the potential partner's ESG performance
• Compare the partner's ESG performance relative to its industry peers
• Identify performance gaps of the potential partners in relation to industry’s best practices

Our robust risk assessment framework and our diligent research process ensure that all partnership risks and opportunities are revealed. 

Elements of Sustainalytics' Partnership Risk Assessment service.