**Abstract**

Within the theoretical framework of Cross-Sector Social Partnerships [CSSPs], strategic communication and dialogue and by use of an example drawn from a case study of a CSSP, this article argues that Corporate Social Responsibility [CSR] initiatives are best developed in partnership-wide meetings involving relevant stakeholders. Importantly, it proposes a framework for analysis. Following a theoretical discussion of the interconnectedness of CSSPs, strategic communication and dialogue, the article outlines a framework for analysis. It delineates the potential of the framework through an analysis of a partnership-wide dialogue conducted in a local CSSP at a seminar/meeting dealing with the creation of common understanding for a social inclusion project among internal and external stakeholders. The analytical findings support the main argument and the conceptual endeavor by illustrating how common understanding of the need for social inclusion is constructed through a partnership-wide meeting organized as dialogue.

**Keywords:** corporate social responsibility [CSR], cross-sector social partnerships [CSSPs], partnership-wide meetings, dialogue, strategic communication
