Business partnerships policy Arts Council England is committed to promote the arts at the heart of national life, reflecting England’s rich and diverse cultural identity. In doing so the Arts Council seeks to build mutually beneficial partnerships with business through cash and inkind support that will enhance the development and delivery of specific Arts Council England objectives. Arts Council England aims to proactively build partnerships with business, working together to meet shared objectives. This policy is intended to help assess how suitable a particular campaign or project is for business partnership and how appropriate particular businesses are as partners. It covers a wide range of associations with business including philanthropic, commercial and value in kind, (including equipment and expertise). The guidelines are intended to indicate the requirements that should be associated with all partnerships. All partnerships should adhere to the following general guidelines: Is the campaign/project well founded and suitable for business partnership? Business support should only be sought for Arts Council England projects and initiatives that fulfil at least one of the Arts Council’s key objectives – the project itself must be appropriate to the organisation and its mission. Due consideration must be given to the level of resource required to find, build and maintain a successful business partnership(s), including agreeing reasonable marketing and media expectations and then seeking to fulfil and then exceed them. Project budgets should take into account the additional resource needed or the required transfer of resources from other roles.
Business partnerships policy
Does the partnership provide added value? All business partnerships should be seen as adding significant benefit to a new or existing Arts Council campaign or project. Potential business partners must be viewed in light of the added value that the business brings to the project. Partners should be chosen because of their shared objectives and the additional leverage that they offer. Does it have clear and mutually beneficial objectives? Clear, mutually beneficial, objectives for the partnership must be agreed with the business at the beginning of the relationship and the Arts Council must be willing to work with the business to help them to achieve these. The Arts Council must maintain editorial control and business partners should not adversely influence the strategic direction of the campaign. Is it sustainable and viable? The time and effort committed to developing a business partnership should be matched by the commitment that the business is prepared to make. A project should not be entirely dependent on sponsorship support for its funding unless it has a definitive life-span and business support is committed for the duration. Does it have integrity of offer? There must be no suggestion that business supporters will be given privileged access to Government Ministers or departments in return for their cash or in-kind support. In addition partnerships must not place, or appear to place, Arts Council England under any obligation to the business partner beyond the agreement relating to the specific activity or event they are supporting. Does any element give commercial advantage? Care should be taken not to give a business partner overt commercial advantage in terms of the direct sale of products or brands to Arts Council audiences as a result of their association with Arts Council England. 2
Does it have a legally binding contract? Every partnership (financial and non-financial) should be bound by a contract that includes standard protection and logo usage clauses as well as clauses specific to the campaign and the sponsor’s objectives. Is a particular business a suitable partner? Businesses need to be an appropriate partner for the Arts Council brand. The broad range of Arts Council campaigns might mean that there are differing objectives and therefore a wide range of businesses who may share these. However there are industries with whom we will not work, namely: tobacco armaments & defence In order to avoid negative publicity, we also need to give careful consideration to partnerships in the sectors listed below. This is not to exclude companies from these sectors but greater thought needs to be given to the appropriateness of their involvement with the Arts Council and the specific campaign/project under consideration. For example, there may be particular ethical and environmental sensitivities around collaborations, particularly those involving young people: Alcohol – illegal targeting of young people Fast food companies – health and obesity Mobile phone companies – targeting young people and possible radiation Petrochemical companies - environmental Pharmaceutical companies – drug testing, vivisection, 3rd world drug provision Nuclear fuel generators – environmental and clean-up Mining companies – environmental and exploitation Is there a robust media strategy, agreed with Advocacy and Communications? Due consideration must be given to the potential for negative publicity and to the kind of adverse media coverage that the partnership might attract. If the benefits that the partnership will bring still outweigh the risks, then you must have in place a strategy to deal with any negative press stories. 3