Mapping and Analysis of Sustainability-Oriented Partnerships in Non-Profit Organizations: The Case of Saudi Arabia

The growing alignment between Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs) and cooperation development actors has contributed to creating new partnerships to be harnessed in addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (e.g., SDG 17). This study aimed to map the key characteristics of engagements between NPOs and other actors. An analytical framework was designed to map the partnerships in terms of four main areas, namely, drivers, motivations, the partnership’s characteristics, and outcomes. Charitable associations were selected as a representative type of NPO. The study analyzed 459 partnerships established by charities in the Riyadh region during 2016–2018. The findings showed that the associations engaged in partnerships mainly to enhance their financial stability. Cross-sector partnerships were observed in 63.4% of the cases, principally with the private sector. The results also indicated that 89.7% of the partnerships could be called “transactional partnerships” in cases of both philanthropic and social investment partnerships. It could be concluded that the mapping framework provides useful information for policy-makers concerned with how charitable associations engaged with the other actors, as well as the existing policy gaps to be implemented for sustainability.