Asked about the greatest possibilities he sees in the social business sector, Air Miles for Social Change national director Owen Ward says he envisions more collaboration between the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.

Both government and the not-for-profit sector have been seeking to create social change for years, he points out.

It’s just in the last few years that larger corporations are also now embracing the opportunity to lead social-impact initiatives.

Collaboration between these three entities could only boost efficiency and optimize impact, says Owen.

“When you bring these three major pillars of society together, you start to see not only an efficiency, which comes down essentially to cost efficiency, but you also see a synergy.

“And so you see that together you’re able to create a lot more impact than each of you would have been able to create as a sum on your own.”

Owen says partnership with government can be a significant opportunity as it brings credibility, need and an abundance of resources it’s deploying to create change.

Not-for-profits bring know-how around creating “authentic, genuine impact.”

Businesses bring an understanding of how the markets work and market reach.

What’s notable is how open social businesses are to partnerships, he adds.

“It’s not as competitive as conventional business,” he says.

Air Miles for Social Change is an example of an initiative involving a partnership between a business, Air Miles, and not-for-profit associations, including the World Wildlife Fund on environment and the Heart and Stroke Foundation on health.

“They’re core stakeholders in all of our decisions, (which) has helped a lot,” he says.

Air Miles for Social Change has also included a partnership with government.

The impact of this collaboration speaks for itself.

A program was recently introduced through the Ontario Power Authority to draw people to join an energy-efficiency initiative. Very quickly 130,000 people signed up, 110,000 more than had been attracted through a different approach the year before.

Just a year after launch, Air Miles for Social Change is finding there is more work than they can handle at this point, so they’re aiming to focus on the projects that can create the biggest impact.

In addition to collaboration between the private, public and not-for-profit sectors, Owen says another significant possibility he sees for social business is more and more large corporations embracing the opportunity to be leaders in creating social change outside their four walls.

Click the links below for related stories:

Leading Social Change, Creating Business Edge

Air Miles for Social Change Director Aims to Harness Power of Business to Make Better World

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