Macmillan Cancer Support’s chief executive, Lynda Thomas, explains why charities should use corporate partnerships not only to raise vital funds but to achieve their vision.
For me, the third sector isn’t short of brilliant corporate partnerships but it’s the ones that use the expertise of both parties to solve tangible problems which have the most impact. If you’re looking into a new corporate partnership or want to refocus an existing one, I’d suggest that you be strategic in your approach and plan together. Think about your charity’s vision and how that company might help you realise it over the short and long term.
Macmillan and npower
A good example of an organic long-term relationship which has developed over time is our ongoing work with npower.
Our staff on Macmillan’s Support Line were telling us that lots of patients, who were feeling the cold more because of their cancer treatment, were also struggling to afford to heat their homes. People in this situation were understandably feeling miserable – with no choice but to spend their days in bed or inside wrapped up under coats, hats and scarves to try and stay warm. This plight resonates with us as our founder Douglas Macmillan handed out bags of coal to patients when the charity first started in 1911.
Two years into our fundraising relationship with npower, we were in a good position to explore a solution. We worked together to form npower’s Macmillan Fund, a service which caps energy bills and writes off debt for eligible customers. npower also supports Macmillan’s Energy Advice Team which offers help and guidance for people regardless of their energy supplier. By working together over the last 13 years, we’ve helped over 34,000 families to keep warm without the worry.
Katie, one of our beneficiaries, said, “When Mum was going through treatment, she felt freezing all of the time, no matter how many layers she wore. This meant we put the heating on a lot more and her bills went up considerably. The extra cost was really stressful for her, especially as she was unable to work.
“When Mum found out about npower’s Macmillan Fund, she was over the moon. Her monthly bills became much more manageable and she could focus on her health. Mum’s cancer was terminal and she sadly passed away in November 2016. Although Mum is no longer with us, I know that she saw the help as a godsend.”
Macmillan and Lloyds Banking Group
We work hard to tackle the issue of cancer patients struggling with their finances. We do this by influencing the government to benefit cancer patients and their financial situations, as well as exploring how we can work with the financial sector to bring about change.
We know that four in five (83 per cent) people are, on average, £570 a month worse off as a result of a cancer diagnosis and Macmillan’s Support Line is 25 times more likely to receive calls about financial issues than those related to death or dying.
As the UK’s largest retail bank with 30 million customers, we believed that together with Lloyds Banking Group, we could have a huge positive impact on the growing number of people affected by cancer in the UK.
Set up last year, Lloyds Banking Group’s Cancer Support Team now provides bespoke support for customers with cancer. The team is made up of dedicated advisors, who have been trained by Macmillan to understand why a cancer diagnosis can cause financial problems and how best to speak to people in this situation.
The team can help Lloyds Bank, Bank of Scotland and Halifax customers (all are part of Lloyds Banking Group) with concerns they have and with managing their personal banking, savings, loans, mortgages and credit cards. Support could include a mortgage payment holiday or waived fees and account charges.
The new service is already having an impact with thousands of customers helped so far, hundreds referred back to Macmillan for further support and over £150,000 unlocked for people in financial gains. We are confident that the partnership will continue to grow for years to come – we want to keep extending the support we can offer based on what our beneficiaries are telling us they need.
New partnerships
As charities, we’re always looking for new and better way to help our beneficiaries, and strategic partnerships are a way of doing this. While raising funds is vital and shouldn’t be over-looked, when you’re approaching potential new partners, you must be focussed about how they might be able to help you solve a longstanding issue. By pooling your expertise and resources, you could help your beneficiaries in ways that you couldn’t have done on your own.
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