Success Factors of Business–Nonprofit Partnerships: A Systematic Literature Review

Business–nonprofit partnerships play an increasingly important role, yet the factors that contribute to different forms of partnership value remain poorly understood. Through a systematic literature review, this study integrates the critical success factors (CSF) and Collaborative Value Creation (CVC) literatures to examine how specific success factors contribute to distinct forms of value creation. Twenty‐one success factors were identified. Shared goals and institution‐based trust were most frequently associated with associational and transferred‐asset value, while knowledge sharing, interpersonal trust, and adaptive leadership were more strongly associated with interactional and synergistic value. Our analysis further suggests that these relationships can be understood through two complementary mechanisms: externally‐oriented sensemaking, which emphasizes legitimacy and resource exchange, and internally‐oriented sensemaking, which emphasizes learning and knowledge integration. The findings contribute to theory and practice by explaining how different forms of collaborative value emerge in business–nonprofit partnerships.