👥Partners

Use the Partners Module to invite partners and suppliers, map, trace, and understand your supply chain, monitor supplier programs, certification, and document compliance

Inviting partners, suppliers, or other stakeholders to Brightest

Partners, Suppliers or stakeholders can be invited or entered into Brightest a couple different ways:

Inviting stakeholders to collaborate via Brightest

Uploading a list of stakeholders

Inviting Stakeholders to collaborate via Brightest

In order to collaborate with other organizations or companies, you'll need to invite them as a partner in your Partner Module.

Navigate to the Partners Module and select "+ Invite a New Partner".

If the organization already has a Brightest account, you'll be able to search for them using the "Search by Organization" tab and send a request. Note: The partner invite is at no extra cost to the partner. They receive their own Brightest account with limited functions - though they have the option to upgrade their subscription.

If the organization doesn't have a Brightest account, select the "Invite via Email" tab, type in the email of your contact at that organization, and select "Send invite". They will then receive an email inviting them to set up a Brightest account for their organization.

Once a partner has accepted your invitation (and created an account if necessary), they will be visible in your partner dashboard. You can view your pending invitations in the "Sent partner requests tab". If other organizations send you a partner request, you'll find them in the "Received partner requests" tab.

For more info on inviting partners to Brightest, check out our tutorial video:

Uploading a list of stakeholders

If you wish you keep track of your stakeholder records in the Brightest Partner Module, but do not want to invite them to collaborate via Brightest, you can upload a list via csv importer.

Navigate to your Partner Module.
Click on "+Invite a New Partner"
Click on "Import Partners via csv". This will open up the csv importer.
Download the csv file template. Fill out the template with the relevant information (see below for more details).
Upload the csv file and follow the data mapping / data review. Once you click save, your list of stakeholders will be added to your Partner directory.

Field	Required	Description
Name	Yes	Enter the name of the stakeholder / organization
Primary Partner Contact Email	Yes	Enter the email address of the primary contact
Partner Type	Yes	Select one of the following: Non-profit, Foundation, Community, Corporate, School, Government, Consultant, Supply chain, Campaign, Student/Youth, Agency, Grant recipient, Vendor, Investment, Customer
Website	Yes	If your stakeholder does not have a website, you can enter the "[name].com"
Meta tags	No	Optional, enter meta tags related to the stakeholder (meta tags must first be added in your account settings)

Field

Required

Description

Name

Yes

Enter the name of the stakeholder / organization

Primary Partner Contact Email

Yes

Enter the email address of the primary contact

Partner Type

Yes

Select one of the following: Non-profit, Foundation, Community, Corporate, School, Government, Consultant, Supply chain, Campaign, Student/Youth, Agency, Grant recipient, Vendor, Investment, Customer

Website

Yes

If your stakeholder does not have a website, you can enter the "[name].com"

Meta tags

Optional, enter meta tags related to the stakeholder (meta tags must first be added in your account settings)

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Partner Dashboard

There are multiple functions available in the partner dashboard of your Partners Module.

In the table view option, you have the ability to filter by partner type (Non-profit, supply chain, consultant, etc.), view data, documents, scorecards (for supply chain partners), assign tags, and send survey or data requests.

In the list view, you have all of the same options as above, along with the options to view a partner's Brightest profile, assign a data collection schedule, cancel a partnership, and edit a partner type.

In the map view, you can map and trace your suppliers & branches around the world by city, state, country, and postal code

Partner Info

In both the table and list view, you'll be able to select "Partner Info".

Here you can:

Add contact information for the primary contacts at the partner organization
View the organization's address, website, Brightest profile page
View the responses or documents attached to partner custom fields
Add or assign assets
Upload any partner documentation that you'd like saved
View diversity information

Partner Data

You can view Partner Data by selecting "data" option next to the supplier in the table or list view, or you can select the "Partner Data" tab at the top of the page.

Here you can:

Filter by partner and partner type
View the list of surveys that you've sent. If a partner has completed a survey, you'll be able to view their responses as well.
Export partner impact reports (if you've sent them the survey and they've completed it)

Supply Chain ESG Scorecards

If a partner is set as "Supply Chain" (in the "supplier type" field - to edit, go to list view in the partner dashboard and use the drop-down menu to update), you will see an option to view/edit a "Scorecard".

You can edit the scorecards to identify risk, create action items, update audit finding items, and set priority and risk levels for a supplier. Information will also populate based on survey responses.

Data Scheduling (recurring partner surveys)

If there is information that you need from a supplier on a regular basis, you can set up data scheduling.

Create the survey (in the Surveys Module) that you would like your partner to complete.
Select the "data scheduling" option under the partner in the dashboard list view.

Select "+ Create New Schedule", then use the drop-down menu to select the survey that you'd like them to complete on a reoccurring basis, and select "Next".

Use the drop-down menu to set a data collection frequency, and then select "Send" to send the survey to the partner. They will then receive the survey in the interval selected.

Partner Custom Fields

If there is specific information that you want to collect from your partners, you can create custom fields. You will then have the option to add custom fields when you create surveys. Custom field responses will also populate in the partner information tool in the partner dashboard.

To create a custom field:

Navigate to Settings, scroll to the bottom of the page, and select "Manage Custom Fields".

Select "Add Custom Field +", complete the form, and select "Save".

Name - this is the internal name for the custom field. Only your organization will see it.
Label - enter the text that you want to appear (for example, "Do you have a net-zero target?")
Field Type
- Text - for descriptive or qualitative answers
- Number - for a specific value
- File - if you want them to upload a document or certification
Data Type - For Text or File types it will only have the option of Absolute
- For Number data types:
  - Absolute - old values will be overwritten by new values each time a form with this field is submitted
  - Cumulative - new form responses will be summed to previous form responses
  - Average - will take the average across all form responses
Partner type(s) the form should apply to - select which partner type(s) you would like this field to be visible to. If you would like it to apply to all, don't select anything.