Cancer Research UK, British Heart Foundation and Diabetes UK’s joint corporate partnership with Tesco has been named the “most admired” this year by 122 major corporations and NGOs.
The award comes from consultancy firm C&E Advisory’s 15th annual Corporate-NGO Partnerships Barometer, which surveyed 122 corporations and not-for-profits involved in corporate fundraising partnerships via an online survey, completed in July this year.
The Tesco health charity partnership was initiated in 2018, and has since raised over £25m to improve national health.
Corporates and NGOs surveyed for the barometer chose the partnership with the supermarket chain for its integral role in supporting improvements in public health.
Boots’ partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support was the second most admired this year, while Samaritans partnership with Network Rail and Macmillan’s partnership with pub chain Greene King were in joint third place.
Manny Amadi, chief executive at C&E Advisory, said: “The most admired partnership of the year, the multilateral collaboration between Tesco, Cancer Research UK, British Heart Foundation, and Diabetes UK, exemplifies the power of strategic alliances.
“This partnership has not only raised significant funds but also delivered crucial health interventions, highlighting the tangible benefits of large-scale, multilateral collaborations.
“It will be fascinating to observe whether such partnerships become more prevalent, setting new standards for future collaborations.”
AI may play lesser role than anticipated in partnering
The report, which was written with the help of generative AI for the first time, explored the role that technology may play in corporate fundraising partnerships in the future.
Despite increases in likely future use of AI, on the whole, those surveyed remained relatively unconcerned about the importance of AI in cross-sector partnering.
One-third of practitioners expected to apply AI in their partnership activities in the next year.
Meanwhile, for 67%, the use of AI did not appear to be on the horizon in the next 12 months.
However, AI was nevertheless regarded as playing an important role in partnership impact and reporting (60%) and research (56%) by practitioners, although its overall impact seemed limited.
Cross sector partnerships predicted to grow in importance
Cross-sector partnerships, like those between corporations and NGOs, were predicted to grow in importance in the future by those surveyed.
Some 84% of corporates and 85% of NGOs said that these partnerships will become more important over the next three years.
Investment in partnerships is also expected to rise, with 73% of corporates and 75% of NGOs planning to increase their commitment to investing in corporate fundraising partnerships.
Reputation and credibility were the driving motivation for corporations entering into these partnerships, with 89% indicating its importance.
On the other hand, access to funds was the driving motivation for NGOs, with 93% considering it important.
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