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Up Close and Personal: CSR Talk with Board Member Dave Nanderam July 31st, 2012
Written by Banu Raghuraman
The opinions/views expressed by the author is theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or position of Endeavour.
In keeping with our monthly theme of Building Relations between Corporate and Non-Profit Organizations, we caught up with Dave Nanderam, an Endeavour Board Member and President of Tapestry Builder, a human capital consulting firm. This is what Dave had to say about evolving relations between the Corporate and Non-Profit sector. Let us know what you think!
Among your projects at Tapestry Builder, what was the major impact you saw as a result of building relations between corporations and non-profits?
By working together, both parties realized that they could use their partnership to resolve a broader range of issues or challenges. They initially formed a partnership to, say resolve A, but realized that it could also potentially resolve B, C or D.
How would you describe these challenges? Are they more often one type than another?
The projects that bring the parties together tend to be with a short term focus, usually to address an immediate need, but both sides often realize their partnership can resolve other medium or long term challenges that have common elements as well.
I think private and non-profit partnerships work well, as both parties know they are not in direct competition with each other. Their operational priorities are quite different, which allows both sides to collaborate based on diversity of perspectives and capabilities without fear of losing competitive intelligence.
Are there different types of partnerships between corporations and non-profits that are emerging?
Partnerships evolve over two different continuums; time and scope of involvement. Over time, the nature of the partnership evolves from more project-based to relationship-based.
I have also noticed a broader level of private sector functional involvement. At one time, partnerships were championed exclusively by the Public Relations or Communications functions – as the partnership were generally based on more reactive circumstances – think environmental disasters.
Now, Sales/Marketing and Human Resources are proactively involved in these partnerships. For example, cause-based marketing initiatives are developed to align with customer/market segment priorities. Human Resources functions are increasingly realizing the strategic importance of skill-based volunteering programs as part of their talent management and employee engagement frameworks. Partnership evolution starts to permeate all departments within the organization.
On the non-profit side, the relationship tends to start off with a philanthropic focus and then evolves to consider their talent needs including Board advisory, functional/technical expertise and general volunteer roles.
Stay tuned for another installment of Up Close and Personal with Dave Nanderam!
Interviewee Biography:
Dave Nanderam is President of Tapestry Builder, a human capital consulting firm which focuses on managing risks associated with human capital assets. Dave assists clients with leveraging their corporate citizenship initiatives to address talent management and employee engagement priorities. Prior to founding Tapestry Builder, Dave worked as a senior consultant with two international human capital consulting firms.
Additionally, he has held various management and leadership roles in three ofCanada’s largest financial institutions and one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organization. Dave has more than 15 years of consulting experience delivering human capital solutions for varied private sector industries, including finance, pharmaceutical, retail, telecommunications and manufacturing, as well as public and non-profit organizations across Canada.
Dave holds a Ph.D in Organization and Management from Capella University in Minneapolis where his research focused on the relationship between corporate social responsibility and employee engagement. Dave is a member of theAcademyofManagementand is affiliated with their Human Resources, Social Issues in Management, and Public and Non-Profits divisional interest groups.
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