Build the Right Talent, Systems, and Funding for Government Engagement
Developing and maintaining government partnerships is resource intensive, so social enterprises need to ensure the right mix of talent, systems, and funding to make the long-term commitment required. Social enterprise leaders advised:
1. Leverage local talent.
Over and over again, interviewees spoke about the criticality of leveraging local talent, since local talent may already have experience working in and with government, may bring existing relationships to the table, and may afford initial credibility because they are not viewed as outsiders. Robert Martin, Associate Consultant, and Akhilesh Gautam, Country Programme Director, underscored this point in sharing Water and Sanitation for the Poor’s (WSUP) experience entering India. WSUP initially planned to bring in an expatriate with extensive technical expertise. In retrospect, it realized that it was much more important to have someone who knew how to get things done within the Government of India. As Martin said, “You can always bring in additional technical expertise from international sources — that is often welcomed. But the leadership and knowledge about how to get things done must be local.”
2. Hire for partnership-building skills, not just technical expertise.
Sharath Javeen, founder and CEO of STIR Education, wrote, “As social entrepreneurs, we tend to focus obsessively on our innovations, and neglect whether we’ve built the core competencies that will give us a realistic chance to support a government scale up of what we do.” His point was emphasized by many of the interviewees, including Elizabeth Hausler, Founder and CEO of Build Change, who noted critical partnership skills that Build Change seeks: “[We need people that] have a wisdom. They are not early in their careers, and understand how to move around things, deal with corruption, etc. They trust Build Change and are able to be candid with us. They must be good communicators and get things done, not ‘used car salesmen’ blowing hot air. They are connected to the right people at the right level.” Social enterprises also need to think about how those core skills change depending on the government partnership goals they seek. For example, advocating for policy change requires different skills than the direct engagement required when pursuing adoption with shared implementation. As President Emily Bancroft from VillageReach noted, “we had to shift from hiring the ‘do-er’ to more of a ‘consultant background’ as we moved beyond direct implementation to technical assistance.”
3. Seek funders that the understand risks and flexibility needed.
When it comes to funders, Partners In Health has had success with individuals who ‘get it’ due to their experience working with similarly complex challenges or with private foundations who see the long game and can plan for it. WSUP recommends seeking funders who will support a flexible partnership scoping phase, within which the social enterprise and government partner can gain better clarity on scope, roles, timelines, and outcomes. Government itself may be a source of funding but may not be the most appropriate source in early stages. Code for America (CFA) secures philanthropic funding to support the initial stages of the product development lifecycle, even when government partners may actually have applicable budget lines. CFA has recognized that government procurement processes and vendor contracts come with certain restrictions that do not allow it to work in its preferred ways (i.e., across departmental siloes and with a user-centered approach) to achieve its impact goals.
4. Build internal systems for partnership.
As social enterprises work towards government partnerships, they must build their internal systems to be able to support the needs and constraints of these partners. For example, data management systems that have been sufficient for solo endeavors may require new elements to meet government partner expectations, such as access to data in real-time and user-friendly formats (e.g., dashboards) to allow government to respond to internal inquiries. The enterprise may need to ensure compliance with certain government standards and may need to update its accounting systems and transparency as a result. If the enterprise contracts directly with government, it must anticipate delays in government disbursements and ensure sufficient cash-on-hand and liquidity to withstand these delays. This may entail taking on working capital debt from low-cost providers, building up a strong base of unrestricted funding, or diversifying funding sources as WSUP did to smooth out its initial cash flows.
Read next: Engaging Government: ‘Build First’ or ‘Build Together’?, As You Partner: Adapt Your Approach to Data, or return to see all articles in Government Partners.
Access the full PDF of Leveraging Government Partnerships for Scaled Impact here or the key takeaways checklist here.
This article was written by Erin Worsham, Kimberly Langsam, and Ellen Martin, and released in September 2018.
