The chemicals giant ICI has signalled a major change in its corporate giving strategy by agreeing to a long-term partnership with Sense, the UK charity for deaf and blind people.
ICI said the deal marked a move away from making small donations to many charities towards ‘focusing support on one main cause’.
Although the monetary value of the deal is not known and details of the long-term partnership have yet to be finalized, it will be worth a six figure sum to the charity in the financial year 2002/3 alone.
ICI said: ‘We felt that if we chose one charity they would benefit more than if we gave smaller amounts to many others – and that if we were going to select just one charity then we should actually pick one with relevance to our organization.’
The company says its specialization in producing ‘sensory products’ such as polymers, fragrances and flavourings prompted the link with Sense, which stresses in its campaigns that deaf and blind people can lead full lives through other senses such as touch and smell.
The UK-based firm decided to change its corporate giving strategy at a board meeting last year.
Naomi Conway, corporate partnership fundraiser at Sense, said the two parties would now finalize details of the partnership and decide which projects ICI – which employs 40,000 people worldwide and had sales of almost £8billion ($11.5bn) in 2000 – would support.
Two other UK companies have also recently announced £1million-plus links with national charities. The Royal Bank of Scotland has agreed a £1.5million support package over three years with Centrepoint, the UK homelessness charity, to help provide training in job and life skills to young people.
Ladbrokes has chosen the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children as its charity of the year, with a view to raising £1m via employees and customers over the next 12 months.
Ladbrokes will also give the charity free advertising space on 25 million betting slips passed over the counter in its 1900 UK betting shops.