Sponsorship policy

Name of Organisation – Food Safety Information Council

Address of Organisation – PO Box 6316 Kingston ACT 2604

Website and email – www.foodsafety.asn.au and info@foodsafety.asn.au

Contact for sponsorship issues – Chief Executive Officer

Vision statement:

The Food Safety Information Council is the place to go to for all consumer based food safety information.

Mission statement:

Providing credible scientific based food safety information to consumers.
Providing nationally consistent and credible food safety information to members, sponsors and the media.

The Food Safety Information Council (FSIC) enters into sponsorships and partnership arrangements in order to further its aims. Appropriate and consistent sponsorship or partnership arrangements may contribute to food safety through fostering the attainment of the FSIC mission and objectives. It is acknowledged that these arrangements and activities may provide specific benefit for the sponsor over and above the public benefit.

Purpose

The purpose of the Sponsorship and Partnership policy is to provide guidance to the members of the FSIC who are seeking and accepting sponsorships for the Council and its activities and events.

Application

The policy applies to all members and staff, and anyone employed or commissioned by the FSIC to undertake specific activities. This policy applies to both sponsorship (financial or other) and partnership types of arrangements.

People empowered by this policy to seek and accept sponsorships are the:

Board and its officers as authorised by the Board
The Chief Executive Officer or his/her delegate within the FSIC Executive Committee

Activities

This policy applies to all sponsorship arrangements including but not restricted to:

materials (eg; brochures, posters, quizzes etc)
promotional items (eg; fridge magnets, thermometers, shirts, aprons)
media releases
radio ads, TV ads
event, launches

Campaigns (Silver)

Specific issue (eg use by date) for internal use
Specific issue / group to use for a promotion
Before and after
Building evidence

Polls / Surveys (Bronze)

Pay for the release and promotion of a specific issue release to address a certain need or business requirement

Media Releases (Bronze) / Social Media (Bronze)

Pay for a post on Facebook or website about a specific issue

Committee Projects Events (Silver)

Research into a specific issue, done by the Technical Committee.
Materials (eg; brochures, posters, quizzes etc)
Promotional items (eg; fridge magnets, thermometers, shirts, aprons)
Media releases
Radio ads, TV ads
Venue
Activity as part of the launch (eg; a quiz)
Media or event management

Online store (Bronze)

Items for sale on website – eg Bad Recipe Book
Pay for the development and printing of material approved by the Technical and Communication Committee, will include brand / logo

Representative (Silver)

Pay for material to be mailed to list
Pay for media release on the new materials
Donation to the FSIC for a representative chosen by the Board to attend an event / function and speak on an issue. Must be approved by the Board. Sponsor must pay for travel and accommodation.

Criteria

Overarching criteria – independence

The independence of the FSIC is to be maintained.

The FSIC’s independence is a fundamental principle that underpins its credibility and the rigour of its policy positions. The Council will not enter into sponsorship or partnership arrangements which compromise its independence, or are judged by the authorising bodies to incur an unacceptable risk of damage to the FSIC’s reputation and standing in the community. This may include actual or perceived risks as perception may compromise neutrality as seriously as reality. Acceptance of sponsorship will not influence the motives of FSIC or infer the sponsors’ right to direct the application of funds.

Although FSIC needs money to finance the good things that we do, sponsorship will only be accepted from organisations whose purpose, aims, values and principles are compatible with the objectives of the FSIC.

Specific criteria

The following 11 criteria must be met by any sponsorship arrangement.

1. Common aims

The purpose, aims, values and principles of the sponsoring body must be compatible with the FSIC’s aims.

2. Acceptable business (and/or product) and no use of product name

Companies whose profits depend at least in part on, manufacturing or production, distribution, advertising or promotion, marketing, sponsorship, retailing or representing products and practices that when used as intended can be problematic or harmful to food safety are explicitly excluded as sponsors for FSIC activities.

The name of a company, but not a specific brand or product, may be associated with a sponsorship arrangement. The term ‘company’ is inclusive of representative organisations or Councils or businesses working on behalf of those companies.

3. Acceptable commercial practices (including marketing)

The known commercial practices of the sponsoring body (in Australia and elsewhere) must be consistent with good practice within the industry and applicable regulations and standards.

4. Common purpose of the sponsorship

The purpose of the sponsorship must be consistent with and in support of FSIC’s objectives, policies and guidelines.

5. Terms of sponsorship

The terms of the sponsorship will be centrally recorded by the FSIC, reported to relevant bodies and a summary report will be included in the Annual Report. Each application will be considered on a case by case basis with the final decision the responsibility of the CEO.

6. Sponsorship is not an endorsement

In accepting sponsorship, FSIC does not explicitly endorse the company or any of its products. The relationship is limited to the terms and purposes of the sponsored activity and is not to be utilised for direct commercial advantage for brand or product.

7. Reporting Requirements

Reporting requirements to sponsors will be kept to a minimum. Financial reporting will be agreed at outset and will relate to the sponsorship activity and sponsorship funding only. Where a sponsor provides funding for research or publication, there will be no requirements for reporting of data to the sponsor although it may be appropriate to provide an overview of the research. Data will always remain the property and responsibility of the individual or academic group that undertook the research or as negotiated by the FSIC.

8. Publication

Control and use of any results will remain at the discretion of the FSIC. The sponsor will, as part of the Sponsorship Agreement, receive sponsorship related material prior to release to the public but is not permitted to publish the material prior to that release. Media releases related to the sponsorship will be given to the Sponsor prior to release, but are to be embargoed until the release.

9. Use of FSIC Logo and Name

FSIC will not relinquish control of its name and logo. Sponsorship agreements may specify appropriate arrangements for use of the names and logos of the parties for the sponsored activities. This may include but is not limited to co-branding arrangements, placement of logo, acceptability of logo, and naming rights.

10. Sponsorship funds

Funds will be banked into a FSIC account immediately on receipt. Sponsorship funds will paid by direct deposit, credit card or cheque (made to Food Safety Information Council) on receipt of a Tax invoice from FSIC.

The funds received by FSIC will only be used for the purposes agreed to.

11. Personal benefits

Any personal benefit to staff or a member of FSIC gained from a sponsorship arrangement or activity must be declared to, and approved by, the FSIC Board.

12. Transparency

A full list of corporate sponsors will be maintained on our website.

The FSIC will communicate its commitment to this policy to the organisation’s stakeholders. A copy of this policy will be displayed on our website.

Terminology

Sponsorship: is an arrangement whereby support (financial or otherwise) is provided by another organisation or individual to FSIC generally for a specific activity of FSIC. The term ‘sponsorship’ is used for simplicity and should be read to include partnership arrangements.

Partnership: is an arrangement between two bodies working together on shared objectives and activities.

Sponsoring body: this term should be read to include the company (commercial or not-for-profit) parent company, organisation, representative organisation, brand and specific products and may apply to a sponsoring body or its proxy as determined by the CEO of the FSIC.

Implementation and Review

The Board may authorise procedures and guidelines to specify operational parameters for implementation of this policy should the need arise. The policy will be reviewed as per the FSIC Calendar or as needed.

Chair Rachelle Williams
31/12/2015