PARTNERSHIP AS DISTINCTIVE VALUE OF THE NON-LUCRATIVE SECTOR: APPLICATION IN THE CASE OF NGOS

Abstract

This work provides a linear regression model that aims to explain the main factors leading an NGO (44 among the 100 largest in Spain by budget) to establish partnership processes with other entities (being these of the third sector, or from private or public sectors).

The scenario described shows the existence of certain organizations, NGOs, very leading to partnership, to which they have grown used to long before other companies did. Why? Probably, one the explanations might be the importance that the value of this

partnership has for the NGOs in relation to their own definition of mission and reason for existence, but also due to the changes that have taken place within the general environment and that tend to make of partnership a decision, whose non fullfilment has a very high cost for this kind of entity,

The variety and different use that NGOs make of their partnership, depending of the type of partner chosen, leads us to think that there is a growing improvement in the quality and knowledge in the management field in the boards of this non-profit entities, what, according to us, will lead to two main consequences: first, a wider and more important use of this partnership philosophy in the coming years, and second, a lesser difference between the techniques used in the profit and non-profit sectors, this second tendency having being named "Seamless Economy" in the last years (Peters and Pierre, 2003).