A survey of corporate fundraising practitioners has for a second year declared the long-term relationship between Marks and Spencer and Oxfam as the most admired charity-corporate partnership.

M&S and Oxfam beat Boots and Macmillan, which held on to second place, and Save the Children whose relationship with pharmaceutical company GSK was voted in third.

Oxfam's partnership with M&S involves high-profile celebrity support, such as Dannii Minogue (pictured), and uses incentives such as discounts at M&S or Oxfam stores in return for donations.

The rankings are part of the annual Corporate-NGO Partnerships Barometer, produced by C&E and involve surveys of those working in corporate philanthropy both within companies and charities.

The Barometer also found that an increasing number of companies list boosting their brand and credibility as a top priority, while an increasing number of charities – in fact, now, all charities surveyed – view raising money as their top priority in partnerships.

Across the board, 43 per cent of respondents classed the majority of their partnerships as ‘strategic’, but this figure was much higher for corporates than for charities.

And charities are continuing to undervalue their worth to businesses in corporate-charity partnerships, according to the annual tracking report.

While more than nine out of ten businesses believe that their partnerships with charity provide them with better understanding of social and environmental issues, and nearly half say that the partnerships have improved their business practices, charities do not recognise this impact to the same degree. Just 79 per cent of charities think their work with corporate improves their understanding of key issues and 40 per cent say they help to enhance companies’ business practices. 

The findings follow a report by the Charities Trust released earlier this year which predicted that, increasingly, businesses will use charities to boost their own profits through corporate partnerships.