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CRUK's Business Supporters' Awards are a great success

Fundraising | 2 Oct 2008

An award scheme to celebrate the achievements of its corporate partnerships is reaping rewards for Cancer Research UK, as Dianne Long explains

In May 2008, Cancer Research UK celebrated its inaugural Business Supporters’ Awards, which brought together the charity’s supporters from the business world for the first time. The Awards, which acknowledged the tremendous contribution that companies throughout the UK made last year to help beat cancer, were presented at an event hosted by TV broadcaster and cancer survivor Nicholas Owen at the Royal College of Surgeons in London.

In 2007/08, businesses generated at least £16million for Cancer Research UK through employee fundraising, cause-related marketing initiatives, payroll giving and sponsorship of our events, which provided much-needed income for our work.  Businesses are playing their part in non-financial ways too, for example by volunteering, promoting health awareness and joining the charity’s campaigns, such as smoke free workplaces. 

Highlighting the benefits to all

The purpose of the Business Supporters’ Awards was to recognise the achievements of our corporate supporters and to show our appreciation.  We also wanted to demonstrate that the best partnerships are mutually beneficial, bringing real benefits to the business as well as to the charity.

The Awards ceremony itself brought together our corporate supporters to showcase the great work they are doing and how it is having an impact in beating cancer.  It was an opportunity to involve senior stakeholders and day-to-day contacts from our partner companies and Cancer Research UK in an environment which encouraged the exchange of ideas and best practice. We hope it brought them closer to the cause and inspired them further to continue and to build on their relationships with the charity. 

It is just one of the ways in which we are seeking to establish a community of corporate supporters who are keen to develop both traditional and new ways of working with us.  Speeches by people who have been affected by cancer and from Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, about the progress the charity is making, helped to give a context to their support.

Before the Awards, there was no real opportunity to bring our corporate partners together effectively or consistently. Even at this early stage in the event’s development, we are already starting to see how important it is to address this missing link, and I am sure we are not the only charity for which this has been or could be the case.

Supporter successes

Over 130 businesses supported the charity in the last calendar year, and Cancer Research UK staff were invited to encourage and support all partners to submit an application for an award. The idea behind this was to encourage buy-in and participation in the event, as well as introducing a strong element of competition.

There were seven Awards categories which were designed to recognise the many different ways in which businesses support the charity, including our suppliers who play an invaluable role but are not always recognised in the same way as more ‘traditional’ corporate partners.  The categories were:

• Award for outstanding achievement through employee fundraising
• Greatest achievement in cause related or affinity marketing
• Exceptional results through sponsorship
• Best payroll giving campaign
• Best supplier to Cancer Research UK
• Special achievement award for individual support
• Special achievement award for outstanding corporate support in 2007/8

We were delighted with the entries we received, and shortlisted 43 nominations. The task of whittling them down fell to an experienced panel of judges which included senior Cancer Research UK staff and two independent external judges, Lindsay Boswell, chief executive of the Institute of Fundraising, and Mike Tuffrey, founding director of Corporate Citizenship. Paul Farthing, Cancer Research UK’s director of high value relationships, joined the line up as the non-voting chair. 

With so many businesses invited to take part, it was important to manage expectations.  Our corporate supporter account managers spent a lot of time talking to nominated supporters to ensure everyone knew there was strong competition in every category. It was really important that people understood the spirit of the event and that the nomination was an honour in itself.  Their passion and enthusiasm were key to inspiring our partners in business to get involved.

The challenge

We knew from the outset that the success of the Awards would depend on achieving high quality nominations and delivering an event which appealed to our supporters, and could be replicated and developed on an annual basis.

Not surprisingly, one of the biggest challenges we faced was a logistical one, in particular how to deliver a high quality event on a low budget. In this respect, the charity’s national events team proved to be an invaluable source of advice and specialist support.

We were delighted that one of our supporters, B&Q, offered us some sponsorship for the event and in future we will look to increase sponsorship opportunities.

The benefits

Although this is only the start, we believe it was worth the investment, because we are already starting to see differences in our partners’ aspirations for working with us in the future. 

For example, one winner said after the Awards that it had set the bar for their CSR work going forwards, and it was fantastic to hear they had set their sights on coming back and winning another Award. Others have taken away ideas and been motivated to try new things. The Awards have also proved a great tool in galvanising the support of new businesses, especially those who are looking for something tangible to aim for.

In summary, we hope that the biggest reward for all nominees is recognition of a fantastic year and knowing that their hard work – and that of their staff and customers – has made a real difference in helping to beat cancer. 

Dianne Long is head of corporate supporter development at Cancer Research UK

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