How can the for-profit and non-profit sectors work in integrative, development cross-sector partnerships to contribute to the sustainable development goals?

The purpose of this paper is to explore how the for-profit and non-profit sectors can work together in cross-sector partnerships (XSPs) to contribute towards the sustainable development goals (SDGs). The SDGs are indicative of the growing discourse around for-profit sector involvement in development, a discourse also evident in government policies and donor requests for funding. The paper investigates whether there is a difference between this discourse and reality. The literature review draws attention to a gap between academic models for partnership and practitioners’ guidance. Although there are several academic models, these are untested and the practitioners’ guidance is largely biased towards the for-profit sector. The literature review’s analysis supports a draft XSP framework, which is then tested through individual, semi-structured interviews with four telecoms companies and four international NGOs in Tanzania. Interviewees were unanimous that XSPs are of growing importance, although are also distrustful of the other sector. Investigations demonstrate perspectives on XSPs range from obligatory to optional and partnerships from transactional to integrative and developmental. Partnerships that make most contribution to the SDGs are integrative, developmental, and regarded as optional. As a result of the primary research, the paper proposes an updated XSP framework to guide for and non-profit actors in developing developmental partnerships. The framework consists of three parts: 1) an outer layer that considers the attitudes and contexts required for successful XSPs, 2) dynamic capabilities for ensuring XSPs are adaptive, and 3) the required assets and competences for a transformational partnership. The paper also acknowledges limitations of the analysis. Some of these include: geographical and industrial focus of study, number of interviews conducted, and differing levels of experience of interviewees