Fundraising rounds up the latest partnerships and campaigns announcements, including; the agencies that will be involved Cancer Research UK's Race for Life 2013, NSPCC's partnership with American Express and the Alzheimer's Society is revealed as Zurich Community Trust's third national partner. 

 

• G4S has made a £2.5m donation to armed forces’ sporting and welfare organisations in recognition of the military personnel who assisted with Olympic security. It’s described by the firm as a “goodwill gesture” after G4S failed to meet its contract to provide 10,400 staff for the Games. The donation has been given to the Ministry of Defence, who will use it to support armed forces’ sporting and welfare organisations.    
• Mother has been appointed as the above-the-line creative agency for Cancer Research UK’s flagship fundraising event, Race for Life. The agency will be one of a number of agencies working on the event in 2013, including the Good Agency on below-the-line activity, Polymath on the digital campaign and Mediacom, which will provide media planning and purchase.     
• The Art Fund has backed a £3.9m appeal by the Fitzwilliam Museum to buy a masterpiece by Poussin. The University of Cambridge museum has until the end of November this year to raise the sum to purchase ‘Extreme Unction’, valued at more than £14m, from the 11th Duke of Rutland’s 2000 Settlement which is made available to the museum using the government’s acceptance-in-lieu scheme.  
• Cancer Research UK has teamed up with Channel 4 to launch a new Comic Relief-style stand-up telethon. Stand Up to Cancer, founded by US charity the Entertainment Industry Foundation, has existed since 2008 in the USA, but it will be introduced to the UK this October. In the US the event has raised more than £100m.
• NSPCC will be able to receive American Express membership rewards points as donations to its ChildLine service as part of a new partnership with the credit card company. The company estimates that a donation of 3,000 points – which are accrued by card users when they spend money on the card – will fund 15 minutes of ChildLine support for a child.
• Alzheimer’s Society has closed all of its charity shops as they are not economically viable. The last of the charity’s three shops, in Carlisle, closed last month. Jeremy Hughes, chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Society said the three shops were not making sufficient profit to continue.
• Alzheimer’s Society won a staff vote to be announced the third national charity partner for the Zurich Community Trust. The partnership, which will last for three years, is worth £50,000 a year and will fund the charity’s ‘Singing for the Brain’ music therapy scheme, as well as the scheme’s evaluation. Clic Sargent and Homes for Children are the Trust’s other two national partners.  
• Alfa Romeo has launched a range of pocket squares which it will sell to benefit Heart Research UK. The pocket squares, designed by various big names, will retail for £14.99 with £5 from the sale of each being returned to the charity. Some 6,000 pocket squares have been made.

Are you involved in corporate partnerships for your charity? Fundraising magazine is running its annual Corporate Partnerships Survey, and we’re keen to hear from you. Respondents will receive the full report for free, but a report will also feature in Fundraising’s November issue. Fill in the 5-minute survey here.