At Social Income, our partner organizations are essential to realizing our shared goal of lifting individuals out of extreme poverty. Partnering with the right organization is crucial. The right partners ensure our support is ethical, impactful, and suitable to the needs of the community we are working in.

But how exactly do we select these partners? Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at our process.

Research and Alignment

The first step in any potential partnership is careful research. We begin by identifying organizations whose mission and values align with ours, such as agency, empowerment, and inclusion. Just as important is whether they run programs where direct cash transfers can be integrated into existing systems. The research into a partnerships’ alignment with Social Income includes online research and conversations with those on-the-ground and in-the-know. This includes understanding:

• Who their target community or cause is

• Where their programs are currently active 

• Whether Social Income’s support would enhance their existing programs 

Initial Contact

Once we’ve identified a potential partner, we reach out to introduce Social Income and expressing interest in collaboration. This step often includes asking preliminary questions to understand the organization better, such as:

• How many beneficiaries does your organization work with , and how many are over 16 years old?

• Have you initiated a cash transfer program before?

• Have you partnered with other organizations before?

The responses give us a preliminary sense of alignment and potential synergies.

Exploratory Meeting

If initial communication is positive and constructive, we arrange an in-person exploratory meeting. The goal is simple: get to know each other. We take this opportunity to assess trustworthiness and the value of a potential collaboration.

It is also where we make sure our approach is clearly understood, which is that we support people in need directly and never cover the operational costs of partner organizations.

Afterwards, our team sits down to talk it through. The question we're trying to answer: is there genuine alignment, and can we add something to the work this organisation is already doing? A partnership only makes sense if both sides come out ahead.

We also talk openly about risks. What could go wrong, where the gaps are, what we'd want to clarify before committing. Saying yes to a partnership is easy; making it work for years takes a clearer-eyed conversation up front.

Field Visits

When the decision is made to move forward with the organization, we visit the organization's field sites to see their programs in action. Speaking to the communities on the ground gives us a better understanding of their needs and the viability of cash transfers within the community.

Field visits give us a firsthand understanding of operations, the communities served, and the organization's approach to impact. This is imperative in building trust and confidence.

It is also part of our compliance checks, where we make sure the partner meets the requirements we set and operates ethically in line with what we expect. This usually comes with a few follow up questions, depending on how transparent the organization is with the information it publishes online.

Pilot Program

Finally, once we are confident Social Income will add value to the impact of the organization’s work, we initiate a pilot program. This involves selecting a small group of recipients to test the partnership through our randomized selection process.

The pilot allows the organizations to learn, refine processes, and ensure that the program truly benefits the intended communities before scaling up.

We will also create a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to guarantee that both parties are protected and committed to the program targets.

Full-scale Program

Following a successful pilot project and it has been established that the partnership is a strong fit, we launch a full-scale program and increase the number of recipients.

As each region and organization operates differently and with varying resources, we don’t have a set timeframe through which we determine whether the pilot program will be upscaled, but a focus is to ensure there are no major issues during the pilot project phase. Potential issues include limited phone service coverage in the community or long journeys to cash out the Social Income from mobile money agents.

Long-term Partnership

We work with partners for the long term. Supporting recipients well takes practice, and practice takes time, so we stay with partners across years.

Once a year, our country office brings every partner organization together in person. The agenda is straightforward: review what's working, surface what isn't, and exchange practical knowledge.

For partners, the annual gathering is a chance to meet peers doing similar work, compare approaches, and learn from each other directly. For us, it's where we hear the issues that don't make it into status updates, where we collect the adjustments partners have asked for, and where best practices spread fastest.

In Conclusion 

From research to pilot programs, every step we take in selecting partner organizations is deliberate and thorough. By combining careful vetting, compliance, field visits, and small-scale pilots, we ensure that our partners share our vision and commitment to lifting individuals out of poverty.

This approach allows us to build trust, maximize impact, and create sustainable, meaningful change.