Lights and Shadows of Business-Nonprofit Partnerships: The Role of Nonprofit Learning and Empowerment in this Ethical Puzzle

Business-nonprofit partnerships have gained increased relevance in the context of the evolution of corporate social responsibility strategies and the existence of extremely complex societal and environmental challenges. However, these collaborations are also associated with important ethical concerns. Under such a scenario, this study attempts to shed light on the effects of high value-added partnerships—i.e., those characterized by a process of nonprofit empowerment—on two potential risks of business-nonprofit partnerships: co-optation and loss of personnel’s identification with the nonprofit’s social mission. Based on a two-step survey to a representative sample of Spanish nonprofits involved in social partnerships with firms, results reveal the existence of a mixed influence in both cases, positive and negative. Several implications for practitioners are drawn, specifically about how firms and nonprofits can reduce the negative ethical consequences of partnering.