When the voluntary sector meets business: the Stuttgart Market Place

Lessons learnt

The Social Market Place has proved to be an effective approach to making the private sector part of ‘Big Society’ and to breaking down barriers between the voluntary and private sectors. The event - and even its planning phase - led to improved partnership working between NGOs, as they found out about the expertise and resources available from other NGOs. Most importantly, it reduced the fear of NGOs about approaching business leaders and about engaging in private-nonprofit partnerships.

Of course, the organisation of a Social Market Place involves higher transaction costs than e-Bay but the social capital created in the personal exchange can be invaluable. As Reinhold Halder, Head of Citizen Engagement of Stuttgart Council concludes from the first two Market Places: "After two successful events, we want to continue this initiative because Stuttgart has the potential for setting up many more fruitful exchanges between the organisations in the city".

Reinhold Halder, Head of Community Engagement of Stuttgart Council, provided Governance International with this case study on
1 February 2011.