Samenvatting

The concepts of Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Community Investment are not clearly defined in literature as of yet. However, considering the recent surge of attention these concepts have gotten, they have become points of interest for the general public, governments, commercial organisation, and non-profit organisations. Currently, the general interpretation is that corporations have an obligation to assess their environmental and social impact and behave more responsible accordingly. As a result, corporations are looking for ways to integrate Corporate Social Responsibility into their core business model. Therefore corporations are looking to engage with important stakeholders in their community in order to improve relations with their direct environment and stakeholders. Additionally, the benefits from investing in the community of the corporation are apparent: it has a positive effect on employee satisfaction and recruitment, and on the reputation of a company, amongst other benefits. A specific method of engaging with the community of a company is by establishing a partnership with a local non-profit organisation. By doing so the corporation gains access to local knowledge, and can benefit from the knowledge and expertise of the non-profit organisation regarding social issues and solutions. A practical example of such a partnership is that of the non-profit organisation in the case of this thesis: The T+Huis. This non-profit organisation, based in Eindhoven, has taken it upon themselves to design solutions to social problems in underprivileged neighbourhoods, with specific focus on the children. In order to finance their organisation they receive subsidies from the government, and collaborate with several partners. One of these partners is De Lage Landen, a global leasing organisation, part of the Rabobank Group. By engaging in a partnership with De Lage Landen, the T+Huis has gained access to resources in terms of finances, knowledge, and expertise. In return De Lage Landen has been able to meet their goals of investing in society, enhancing their legitimacy, and improve their employee satisfaction and recruitment. Despite the financial support De Lage Landen offers, the T+Huis is expanding as an organisation, and additional financial resources are required to facilitate the organisational growth. Therefore, they are aiming to engage in additional partnerships with corporations to gain access to more resources. Based on this situation, the theoretical research aims to clarify the concepts of Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Community Involvement, and social alliances, as well as to explain the benefits and dangers of these concepts. Subsequently, the practical research aims to determine the added value of the T+Huis, as well as the perceptions regarding a successful partnership from both the point of view of the T+Huis, as well as the point of view of the corporate side, in the form of the current partner of the T+Huis: De Lage Landen. The findings of this research, combined with the theoretical framework, answers the question How the T+Huis can communicate more effectively with commercial organisations in order to form a partnership with them. This led to a communication advice for the T+Huis, which will help them construct a comprehensive strategy to approach commercial organisations to engage in a partnership. Concrete suggestions are made that provide the T+Huis with a clear guideline for future use.