Business leaders often find themselves in the tricky position of wanting to make their establishments more sustainable, but realizing they don’t possess the knowledge and resources required to successfully do so. In that common case, sustainability partnerships can fill the void. These partnerships involve two or more businesses teaming up with each other for mutual benefits related to sustainability goals. Sometimes, a corporate brand and a nonprofit from the same industry will pair up, but, otherwise, entities from multiple sectors get together and pool their resources.

The latter situation is called a cross-sector partnership.

These collaborative efforts don’t only have sustainability-related advantages. For example, the companies involved can learn best practices from each other, highlight inefficiencies and improve them, discover shared skillsets and more.

Most business leaders know if their employees don’t care about sustainable practices, it’ll be difficult for the company itself to make a meaningful impact. Microsoft understands that fact well, and that’s one of the primary reasons the tech company teamed up with the Earthwatch Institute, a worldwide environmental charity.

Some brands are longtime rivals, but when there’s sustainability at stake, they might put animosity on the back burner and realize they’re both working toward similar goals, and there might be a nonprofit that could help. Whether for-profit organizations and charities team up for one-off events or ongoing efforts, these case studies clarify why these joined resources can provide so much momentum for sustainability goals.

Read the full article about sustainability partnerships at TriplePundit.