At the end of 2014, AmCham and RBS held a seminar to discuss the opportunities and challenges of Corporate-NGO partnerships. As a result of this seminar the research was conducted by Roger A. Ritvo, Ph.D. of Auburn University Montgomery and Riga Business School, and Anna Feldmane the Dean's List student of Riga Business School.

This research contributes to the developing concept of Corporate Social Responsibility and civil society in Latvia. The complementary purposes of this paper were to document the public's attitude toward NGOs and to research the benefits and limitations of collaborative business partnerships. The data for this research was gathered through an online survey of 801 respondents by using the snowball network methodology.

Major findings include:

• Effective models of business-NGO partnerships can guide organizational leaders as they make strategic decisions about their programs, services, products and investments;
• Respondents are not as well-informed about NGOs as they would like to be, and;
• They have only a modest level of trust in NGOs.

The research concludes with the statement that Corporate-NGO partnerships will continue to develop as their leaders remain committed to finding new structures to create a civil society that benefits everyone. As John Winston Lennon (of the Beatles) wrote: "Imagine all the people ... sharing all the world."

To read the entire research click here.