Charities working with business

• Commissioned – activity directed by the charity as part of its operations• Partnership – joint ventures• Direct Support –

fundraising, volunteers, sponsorship, gift-in-kind

Relationships with business

We as a sector need to collaborate more across all sectors

• Things to think about not reasons to avoid partnerships

• Relationships build • Always be transparent • Positive and negative impacts for

your reputation and the whole sector

Relationships with business

• Trustees’ overriding legal responsibility is to advance the purposes of their charity.– Does it do this? Is it actually of help or did

you just not like to say no– Is it the best use of this resource (time,

money) to do this• Must safeguard the assets of the charity – Includes brand (other IP) and reputation – Never be in position where your name is

being used without your explicit consent

Work in your interest and safeguard your assets

Compatible with your values

• Most of the time not a big issue • Part of the conversation • Sensible due diligence• Are you clear about your values?

– Wages– Environmental– Local economy – Employee welfare

• Real or prejudicial (Tesco or Waitrose)• Beware of guilt & confessional funding

• Partnerships often go wrong when people aren’t clear– Can lead to animosity – Can just lead to chaos

• Often cultural difference– In OneStop changes happen in 24hrs

• When/who/what/when/where • Whose insurance covers the activity?• How are we publicising our relationship?

Clear about what you are doing

• Be clear and transparent • Identify and mitigate any risk• Reasonable due diligence • Follow all legislative requirements• Monitor and manage the ongoing

relationship

Reputable, safe and compliant

Fundraising – much tighter “while the charities involved made some efforts, all but one of the eight concerned failed to make all reasonable efforts to assure themselves (and in doing so the public) that the agency they had employed was complying with the requirements of the Code.”

Reputable, safe and compliant

https://www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Neet-Feet-Adjudication-Report.pdf

Read and follow the fundraising codehttps://www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Code-of-Fundraising-Practice-v1.3.pdf

Reputable, safe and compliant

• Charities and Commercial Partners (RS2)https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/charities-and-commercial-partners-rs2

• Charity fundraising: a guide to trustee duties (CC20)https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/566105/CC20.pdf

• Trustees and Fundraisinghttp://www.institute-of-fundraising.org.uk/guidance/research/trustees-and-fundraising/

• The Essential Trustee (CC3)https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/570398/CC3.pdf

• Code of Good Governancehttp://www.governancecode.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Code-of-Governance-Full1.pdf

Resources