| Guidelines for Selecting an Initiative | Outcomes for Students | Benefits for Business |
| Implementation Steps | Implementation Steps Flowchart |

Implementation Steps
Businesses have different resources and circumstances. It is important to make sure these fit with the type of partnership being undertaken. In this section decision-makers can learn about the first steps towards setting up a new partnership.

1. Determine resource commitment - Decide what resources, such as time and money, you are able to commit to a partnership. Identify the champions from within your business since these people will be the ones whose energy and commitment are crucial for success. There is the opportunity to use specialist facilitator organisations to assist with any partnership. Refer to section three for further details.
   


2. Determine type of partnership - Having considered your resource commitment consult the Partnership Summary Table to identify the type of partnership that best fits your resource commitment. The types of partnerships are defined below.
   
   Summary of types of partnership
   There are many different examples of initiatives where businesses and schools have formed partnerships. For the purpose of this guide these have been classified into six categories. Each partnership is analysed in full in section two of this guide. Refer to the Partnerships section for more information.
   
   
3. What are other businesses doing? Consult the Member Involvement Table to ascertain what partnerships and initiatives other NZBCSD businesses are involved in. This table will help you to ensure that your methods complement what other businesses are doing and will avoid any duplication of partnerships. Furthermore, the table provides contacts who can give you guidance on programmes.
   
   
4. Making contact - This is the most important implementation step. At this stage you must decide who to contact to develop the partnership. There are three choices.


1. If you already know which school you would like to work with make contact with the principal to arrange a meeting. At this meeting you can negotiate a match between your interests and the needs of the school.
2. If there is a programme you would like to become involved in you can meet with the representatives of the programme, who are listed in section two of this guide. There is detailed information about each type of partnership in section two. Opportunities exist to develop partnerships that fit within the structure of these programmes.
3. If you are unsure which school or partnership suits your business you can contact an independent facilitator organisation who can give you advice. If you wish, the facilitator can also guide you in implementing any partnership.
   


5. Setting Objectives - At this stage it is essential that mutual objectives for the partnership are agreed between the parties. These objectives will be the measures to identify the success of the activity. The success of any partnership depends on the development of activities that meet the needs of both parties. It is important to keep these achievable, even if this means modest goals initially.
   
   
6. Recording your involvement - The NZBCSD believes in learning by sharing. Therefore we would like you to record your involvement on our website. Refer to the Member Involvement Section to enter your company's involvements.
   
   
7. Reviewing success - As with all business initiatives it is important that the outcomes of your partnership are measured. The goals of the partnership, which were agreed upon at the outset, should be periodically reviewed. The NZBCSD encourages businesses to include these successes as part of their published sustainable development reporting.