Cross Sector Partnerships: Creating Shared Value through Cultural Collaborations

Connecting People
Successful partnerships across sectors connect people across sectors. At JPMorgan Chase, we are lucky to have many strong cross sector partnerships that are vibrant and ongoing. The key to these successes is empowering people to be creative in caring for and nurturing our community involvement. In our firm we don’t limit the leadership of our community partnerships to just our community relations team, we open them up to our employees.

In many instances this leads to more creative and localized solutions to problems but in all cases this leads to employee ownership of our collective actions and creates clear investment of all of our human capital resources (read, real people). This is the natural outcome of a commitment on the part of all partners to establish a true cultural collaboration.

It’s All in the Translation
The joke about how the United Kingdom and the United States are separated by a common language occurs to me more and more these days when I am in conversations about partnerships across corporate and nonprofit sectors. Undoubtedly the importance of these partnerships is at its highest level since anyone can remember; there is more need in communities and corporations are more serious, focused and committed to social action and responsibility than ever before. However, the challenges we all face in making these partnerships come together are also more significant than ever before.

But the challenges don’t have to be. Success across sectors means translating the goals and missions of organizations on both sides of the partnership into tangible actions, that not only benefits the community being served, but also play against the strengths of and capitalizes on the cultures of all collaborating organizations.

This translation from intention to action — and from action to impact demands the development of shared expectations of partners and the truthful acknowledgement of each cooperating party’s strengths, limitations and modes of doing business.

Cultural Collaboration
The alignment of the cultures of collaborating organizations, both for-profits and nonprofits, is key to partnership success. This means that partnerships must first focus on sharing and understanding the ways that all parties involved run their businesses, the constituencies that are important to both and perhaps most importantly, what tangible assets each group wants to bring to the table. These assets include brand, funds, human capital and areas of operational excellence.

It is amazing how much you learn from a partner when you ask questions like:

  • Who are your most important customers?
  • What products or services are most important to you right now?
  • What demographics use, need or want to be served by your organization?
  • Who wants to serve with you in your efforts?

And partnerships become even stronger and more informed when we ask deeper questions like:

  • What have been the largest stumbling blocks of your past work with others across sectors?
  • What role does personal and professional development of your employees or other constituents play in your work with other organizations across sectors?
  • How do you balance your customer, employee and brand considerations when implementing social benefit or impact programs?

While difficult, getting answers to these questions is primary to bringing cultures of different organizations together to address high level goals and ensure clarity of action and orientation to deliver results even as the partners work to achieve their overall goals – these answers set the stage for effective and honest collaboration.

Truth and Data Matter
A wildly successful program can be too difficult to continue to administer. A service needed five years ago may no longer be needed, or needed in a different place. Over time, conditions in communities can change for the better. Sometimes life cycles of investment in communities come to an end or evolve to a different place based on changing needs.

When partners working across sectors have success, it is based on their cultural collaboration, not specific circumstances of their action. At the core it is the people of both organizations that commit to being truthful about changing needs and work to leverage data to come to collective decisions about what possibilities continue to exist for the partnership.

When partnerships fail, it is easy to walk away. When partnerships succeed, walking away is more difficult. Success breeds connection on the part of employees, both leaders and teams, a desire to continue the good work and see more of the same great outcomes.

But if we don’t pay attention to what the evolving possibilities are in a partnership, as well as the changing objectives of each other’s work, partnerships run the danger of becoming solutions in search of problems.

Over time we are comforted by the premise that we are doing the right thing through our collaboration, but if we are nearing the natural end of the partnership life cycle, then the law of diminishing returns tells us that if we are not taking action to leverage our collective assets then truthfully, we are not creating change in our communities.

This blog entry comes care of a partnership with CSRWire

Michael Carren
Michael Carren


Michael Carren is Vice President and Global Director of Employee Engagement and Volunteerism, Financial Education, Disaster Response and Military and Veterans Giving for JPMorgan Chase and the JPMorgan Chase Foundation. In this capacity, Michael is responsible for leading the strategy and implementation of national and international grant making and community outreach programs.

86 Comments

  1. April 27, 2013, 7:59 AM

    Bid-Ninja…

    [...]we like to honor other sites on the web, even if they aren’t related to us, by linking to them. Below are some sites worth checking out[...]…

  2. May 3, 2013, 5:23 PM

    Websites you should visit…

    Every once in a while we choose blogs that we read. Listed below are the latest sites that we choose…

  3. May 4, 2013, 6:52 PM

    Great Content…

    we like to honor many other internet sites on the web, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some webpages worth checking out…

  4. May 6, 2013, 10:03 AM

    So cool…

    The information provided in the article are some of the best available…

  5. May 7, 2013, 1:27 PM

    Websites we think you should visit…

    we like to honor many other internet sites on the web, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some webpages worth checking out…

  6. May 8, 2013, 12:50 PM

    Y8…

    Y8| Play Free Online Y8 Games, Y8 ,Y8 fun games, Y8 Angry birds, Y8 action games, Y8 sports games,Y8 flash games, Y8 adventure games, Y8 multiplayer games and more Games at Y8 Games…

  7. May 8, 2013, 1:45 PM

    Great Content…

    we like to honor many other internet sites on the web, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some webpages worth checking out…

  8. May 9, 2013, 8:17 AM

    Websites we think you should visit…

    we like to honor many other internet sites on the web, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some webpages worth checking out…

  9. May 9, 2013, 10:01 AM

    fun games…

    Hi there, I found your blog via Google while searching for a related topic, your website came up, it looks good. I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks….

  10. May 9, 2013, 1:18 PM

    classic games…

    Its like you read my mind! You seem to know so much about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you can do with a few pics to drive the message home a bit, but instead of that, this is excellent blog. A great read. I will defin…

  11. May 9, 2013, 2:15 PM

    fun games…

    Hi there, I found your blog via Google while searching for a related topic, your website came up, it looks good. I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks….

  12. May 9, 2013, 6:42 PM

    Great website…

    please visit the sites we follow, including this one, as it represents our picks from the web…

  13. May 10, 2013, 3:46 AM

    Souls in the Waves…

    Superior Early morning, I just stopped in to visit your internet site and imagined I’d say I liked myself….

  14. May 10, 2013, 6:30 AM

    Great website…

    please visit the sites we follow, including this one, as it represents our picks from the web…

  15. May 10, 2013, 6:38 AM

    a must see…

    Hi there! Quick question that’s completely off topic. Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly? My blog looks weird when browsing from my iphone 4. I’m trying to find a template or plugin that might be able to correct this issue. If you have a…

  16. May 10, 2013, 1:44 PM

    games for ladies…

    Thank you, I’ve just been searching for information approximately this topic for a while and yours is the greatest I have came upon till now. However, what concerning the bottom line? Are you sure about the source?…

  17. May 10, 2013, 10:07 PM

    games for Girls…

    Thanks for sharing excellent informations. Your site is very cool. I’m impressed by the details that you have on this site. It reveals how nicely you understand this subject. Bookmarked this web page, will come back for extra articles. You, my pal, ROC…

  18. May 10, 2013, 11:17 PM

    Play the game…

    I in basic terms had to thank you vastly a great deal on one occasion further. I’m not confident what I would have ended to materialize in the absence of the real solutions documented by you regarding my field. It absolutely was a unfeigned frightening…

  19. May 11, 2013, 2:53 PM

    New flash games…

    I adore gathering beneficial information, this post has got me even much more information!….

  20. May 11, 2013, 6:51 PM

    IGAuqjhy…

    Charities at Work | Cross Sector Partnerships: Creating Shared Value through Cultural Collaborations…

  21. May 12, 2013, 1:28 AM

    The Silent Shard…

    This tends to almost certainly be really useful for some of the job opportunities I decide to you should not only with my website but…

  22. May 12, 2013, 1:34 PM

    Websites you should visit…

    Every once in a while we choose blogs that we read. Listed below are the latest sites that we choose…

  23. May 12, 2013, 1:37 PM

    Websites we think you should visit…

    we like to honor many other internet sites on the web, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some webpages worth checking out…

  24. May 13, 2013, 8:38 PM

    games for Girls…

    Thanks for sharing excellent informations. Your site is very cool. I’m impressed by the details that you have on this site. It reveals how nicely you understand this subject. Bookmarked this web page, will come back for extra articles. You, my pal, ROC…

  25. May 14, 2013, 2:56 PM

    Sites we like…

    the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the…

  26. May 15, 2013, 1:58 AM

    How to Find The Best Web Designer…

    I saw this really good post today….

  27. May 15, 2013, 12:55 PM

    The Absent Game…

    In between me and my husband we have owned extra MP3 players through the years than I can count, including Sansas, iRivers, iPods (traditional & touch), the Ibiza Rhapsody, etc. But, the last few ages I’ve settled down to one line of players….

  28. May 15, 2013, 2:16 PM

    BLACKDEVER – Cadastro oficial…

    BlackDever – Banco Milionário, a revolução do Marketing Multi Nível. A Black Dever paga 5x mais bônus e é 5x mais rápida….

  29. May 15, 2013, 2:23 PM

    Woman of Alien…

    Perfect work you have accomplished, this page is actually cool with great info. Time is God’s method of keeping everything from occurring without delay….

  30. May 15, 2013, 4:25 PM

    Useful Property Information…

    This is a very good post! Will there be frequent edits planned in your webpage?…

  31. May 15, 2013, 4:35 PM

    Singapore Property Links…

    This is a well-written webpage! Will there be frequent updates planned in your website?…

  32. go
    May 15, 2013, 5:27 PM

    The Silent Shard…

    This will likely possibly be pretty valuable for some of one’s job opportunities I decide to really don’t only with my weblog but…

  33. May 15, 2013, 7:53 PM

    Check this out…

    The information mentioned in the article are some of the best available…

  34. May 15, 2013, 9:19 PM

    Blogs you should be reading…

    please visit the sites we follow, including this one, as it represents our picks from the web…

  35. May 15, 2013, 11:47 PM

    Useful Singapore Property Links…

    How do I put a link to your webpage and I can be aware of new posting? This excerpt is really intriging!…

  36. May 16, 2013, 6:28 AM

    Woman of Alien…

    Fantastic function you might have completed, this website is actually awesome with wonderful facts. Time is God’s technique for preserving every little thing from taking place directly….

  37. May 16, 2013, 9:29 AM

    Digg…

    While checking out DIGG today I found this…

  38. May 16, 2013, 9:53 AM

    Websites you should visit…

    Every once in a while we choose blogs that we read. Listed below are the latest sites that we choose…

  39. May 16, 2013, 11:56 AM

    News info…

    I was reading the news and I saw this really cool information…

  40. May 16, 2013, 11:58 AM

    Looking around…

    I like to browse around the internet, regularly I will go to Digg and read and check stuff out…

  41. May 16, 2013, 12:17 PM

    Looking around…

    I like to browse in various places on the web, regularly I will just go to Stumble Upon and read and check stuff out…

  42. May 16, 2013, 9:55 PM

    Great Content…

    we like to honor many different internet pages on the web, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some webpages worth checking out…

  43. May 17, 2013, 7:14 AM

    A Whole Lot Obliged…

    Genuinely liked this unique piece of writing. Much cheers again. Awesome….

  44. May 17, 2013, 2:27 PM

    Websites you should visit…

    Every once in a while we choose blogs that we read. Listed below are the latest sites that we choose…

  45. May 17, 2013, 4:09 PM

    Thorn of Girl…

    Great info can be identified on this online blogging site….

  46. May 17, 2013, 4:32 PM

    [...]Here are a few of the internet sites we advocate for our visitors[...]…

  47. May 17, 2013, 5:01 PM

    Healing’s Dragon…

    to find problems to enhance my web page!I suppose its ok to generate use of a few of your respective principles!!…

  48. May 17, 2013, 8:22 PM

    Healing’s Dragon…

    to uncover troubles to enhance my web site!I suppose its okay to generate use of a number of of your concepts!!…

  49. May 18, 2013, 8:04 AM

    Third Flower…

    My spouse and that i are now delighted that Albert could execute his reports as a result of the concepts he had via your website. It truly is on occasion perplexing to only often be giving away methods which some individuals could have been offering. S…

  50. May 18, 2013, 9:12 AM

    Souls in the Waves…

    Good Morning, I just stopped in to go to your internet site and believed I would say I liked myself….

  51. May 18, 2013, 6:32 PM

    Игра престолов скачать торрент…

    «Игра престолов» (Game of Thrones) – американский драматический телесериал в жанре фэнтези, созданный по мотивам цикла романов «Песнь Льда и Огня» писателя Джорджа Мартина….

  52. May 18, 2013, 7:37 PM

    Cool sites…

    Here are some of the sites we recommend for our visitor…

  53. May 19, 2013, 2:31 AM

    great…

    I have been absent for some time, but now I remember why I used to love this website. Thanks , I will try and check back more often. How frequently you update your site?…

  54. May 19, 2013, 5:14 AM

    The Birch of the Shadow…

    I feel there could be a several duplicates, but an exceedingly helpful checklist! I have tweeted this. Quite a few thanks for sharing!…

  55. May 19, 2013, 5:57 AM

    Whispering Misty…

    So sorry you will skip the workshop!…

  56. May 19, 2013, 6:39 AM

    Woman of Alien…

    Perfect do the job you have finished, this web site is admittedly amazing with excellent info. Time is God’s technique for maintaining anything from taking place at once….

  57. May 20, 2013, 12:46 AM

    Excels in Defining Solutions…

    Some genuinely nice stuff on this web site, I enjoy it….

  58. May 20, 2013, 8:22 AM

    google…

    Google http://www.google.com

  59. May 20, 2013, 10:40 AM

    Sources……

    [...]…Trackback from http://www.ez-on-web.com [...]…

  60. May 20, 2013, 1:49 PM

    Healing’s Dragon…

    to find issues to boost my web site!I suppose its ok to generate usage of some of your ideas!!…

  61. May 20, 2013, 2:00 PM

    The Silent Shard…

    This tends to probably be rather handy for some of the job opportunities I decide to don’t only with my blog site but…

  62. May 20, 2013, 2:11 PM

    The Slave of the Husband…

    In search of in advance to researching more from you afterward!……

  63. May 20, 2013, 2:32 PM

    The Ships’s Voyages…

    I think technology just makes it even worse. Now there’s a channel to hardly ever treatment, now there won’t become a likelihood for them to find….

  64. May 20, 2013, 2:53 PM

    Healing’s Dragon…

    to seek out matters to improve my website!I suppose its ok to generate use of a number of of one’s principles!!…

  65. May 20, 2013, 3:13 PM

    Whispering Misty…

    So sorry you’ll skip the workshop!…

  66. May 20, 2013, 3:23 PM

    Healing’s Dragon…

    to find difficulties to improve my web page!I suppose its ok to make utilization of several of your ideas!!…

  67. May 20, 2013, 3:33 PM

    Whispering Misty…

    So sorry you can expect to skip the workshop!…

  68. May 20, 2013, 3:43 PM

    The Absent Game…

    Concerning me and my husband we have owned much more MP3 gamers through the years than I can count, like Sansas, iRivers, iPods (basic & touch), the Ibiza Rhapsody, etc. But, the last few decades I’ve settled down to one line of players….

  69. May 20, 2013, 4:12 PM

    Healing’s Dragon…

    to uncover matters to boost my web-site!I suppose its okay for making use of a couple of of one’s concepts!!…

  70. May 20, 2013, 4:23 PM

    The Absent Game…

    Between me and my husband we have owned far more MP3 gamers over the years than I can count, like Sansas, iRivers, iPods (typical & touch), the Ibiza Rhapsody, etc. But, the last few decades I’ve settled down to one line of players….

  71. May 20, 2013, 4:32 PM

    The Slave of the Husband…

    Trying to get in advance to studying added from you afterward!……

  72. May 20, 2013, 7:18 PM

    Thorn of Girl…

    Superb information can be found on this net blog site….

  73. May 20, 2013, 9:11 PM

    The Birch of the Shadow…

    I believe there might become a number of duplicates, but an exceedingly handy checklist! I’ve tweeted this. Several thanks for sharing!…

  74. May 20, 2013, 9:55 PM

    Sites we like…

    the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the…

  75. May 20, 2013, 10:14 PM

    Sites we like…

    the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the…

  76. May 21, 2013, 8:35 AM

    Third Flower…

    My spouse and i are actually now delighted that Albert could perform his scientific tests as a result of the thoughts he had by means of your website. It truly is now and again perplexing to just generally be giving away measures which some people migh…

  77. May 21, 2013, 8:40 AM

    The Silent Shard…

    This will likely in all probability be pretty useful for some of the positions I decide to never only with my web site but…

  78. May 21, 2013, 8:44 AM

    The Birch of the Shadow…

    I believe there may perhaps be a several duplicates, but an exceedingly useful checklist! I have tweeted this. A lot of thanks for sharing!…

  79. May 21, 2013, 9:03 AM

    Whispering Misty…

    So sorry you may miss the workshop!…

  80. May 21, 2013, 9:08 AM

    The Birch of the Shadow…

    I think there may possibly become a number of duplicates, but an exceedingly helpful listing! I have tweeted this. Several thanks for sharing!…

  81. May 21, 2013, 9:27 AM

    The Birch of the Shadow…

    I believe there may possibly be considered a number of duplicates, but an exceedingly useful record! I have tweeted this. Numerous thanks for sharing!…

  82. May 21, 2013, 9:31 AM

    Third Flower…

    My wife and that i have been now delighted that Albert could carry out his scientific studies thanks to the concepts he had through your web page. It can be once in a while perplexing to just always be freely giving techniques which a lot of people mig…

  83. May 21, 2013, 9:34 AM

    Woman of Alien…

    Best perform you have got completed, this page is absolutely neat with fantastic information. Time is God’s way of keeping all the things from going on at the same time….

  84. May 21, 2013, 9:38 AM

    Whispering Misty…

    So sorry you may skip the workshop!…

  85. May 21, 2013, 9:42 AM

    The Ships’s Voyages…

    I believe technologies just can make it worse. Now there’s a channel to hardly ever care, now there will not be a likelihood for them to discover….

  86. May 21, 2013, 9:48 AM

    Souls in the Waves…

    Excellent Early morning, I just stopped in to go to your internet site and thought I would say I appreciated myself….

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.