Sponsorship Policy

1. PURPOSE

This policy document sets out CAN.s procedures for developing, assessing, formalising and managing sponsorship agreements. Its development has been guided by the Australian National Audit Office.s Management of Corporate Sponsorship guidelines.

2. DEFINITIONS

2.1 Sponsorship is the negotiated provision of funds, goods or services in exchange for advertising, publicity or other benefits.

Sponsorship:

• may take the form of cash support and/or provision of material goods or other;
• resources, such as labour or facilities, in exchange for agreed acknowledgment;
• may be between one or more organisations; and
• does not generally include direct commercial dealings with organisations; or unencumbered donations of goods and services, or materials.

2.2 A Sponsorship Agreement is a written document outlining the negotiated terms for a sponsorship.

Agreements may be:

• with a business or organisation;
• the first step to, or the outcome of, links formed with business and other community organisations; or
• part of, or an outcome of, a much wider relationship with the community.

Agreements may take the form of:

• an exchange of letters; and/or
• a binding Legal Agreement.

(Note: Donations are unconditional gifts of money or materials. This policy does not apply to donations.)

3. POLICY STATEMENT

3.1 The sponsorship activity must be consistent with CAN.s objectives as stated in the Service Charter.

3.2 All sponsorship monies received by CAN must be identified in accounts, reported (to the Department of Communications, Information, Technology & the Arts) and receipted.

3.3 CAN staff will not take, or seek to take, improper advantage of their position in order to obtain benefits for themselves, their family or any other person or organisation. The benefits of a sponsorship will be applied exclusively to CAN.

4. MONITORING AND REPORTING

4.1 As an Australian Government owned and administered entity CAN is required to:

• obtain the Department of Communciations, Information Technology and the Arts (DCITA.s) prior agreement to any proposed sponsorship;
• maintain accurate copies of all sponsorship agreements;
• monitor adherence to the principles and mandatory procedures of this policy for all sponsorships; and
• provide advice, where necessary, on the implementation of the sponsorship policy and procedures.

5. FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY

5.1 Cash sponsorships will be reported, audited and receipted in accord with Departmental (i.e. DCITA) and Powerhouse Museum (PHM) financial reporting guidelines. 5.2 Sponsorship raising should not compromise the process of purchasing or tendering, which should also comply with Departmental (i.e. DCITA) and institutional (i.e. PHM) purchasing guidelines.

6. MANDATORY PROCEDURES

6.1 The negotiation of sponsorship agreements will proceed according to the following guidelines no matter what the size and scope of the sponsorship arrangement.

6.2 Sponsorship should advance CAN.s objectives. It must be viewed as a supplementary resource, and not relied upon as a permanent source of funds.

6.3 Acceptance of a sponsor's product or service must not be allowed to compromise CAN.s objectives.

6.4 The rationale for the sponsorship should remain foremost in discussions and should be made explicit in the sponsorship agreement. Sponsorships will not be allowed to compromise the professional standards and ethics of CAN, or any of its affiliates.

6.5 Direct sponsorship agreements should only be negotiated with organisations whose public image, products and services are consistent with CAN.s stated values, policies and objectives.

6.6 Any company or organisation whose name is associated with the manufacture, distribution or sale of tobacco products, alcoholic beverages, pornography or armaments is not regarded as an appropriate sponsor. This would not necessarily preclude involvement with other businesses, provided that their name is not linked to inappropriate products.

6.7 When considering an organisation as a potential sponsor, CAN might evaluate the appropriateness of:

• the type of products or services the organisation markets;
• the marketing methods used;
• its public image as an employer and the impact its products and processing have on the environment;
• its international corporate connections; and
• existing interests and relationships, especially those that could give rise to a potential conflict of interest.

7. LEGAL ADVICE, CONTRACTS AND WRITTEN AGREEMENTS

7.1 Sponsorship agreements will be retained for at least seven years after expiration of the sponsorship.

7.2 Each sponsorship agreement (including exchange of letters or full legal agreement) shall be made for a specific period and purpose. Sponsorship agreements may be renegotiated by either party.

7.3 Every sponsorship agreement shall contain a clause which allows for the cancellation of an agreement without penalty, where information questioning the appropriateness of an organisation as a sponsor comes to light after the agreement has been signed.

7.4 CAN will ensure all acknowledgment arrangements are detailed in the agreement to avoid any future dispute over the nature of the obligations.

8. ACKNOWLEDGMENT

8.1 The extent of acknowledgment should reflect the level of sponsorship. Sponsor acknowledgment should also be in a form consistent with CAN.s design standards and Style Guide.

The public nature of CAN.s online service should not be infringed or impaired by sponsorship schemes. As a general rule, the homepage should not incorporate the names or logos of sponsors and should not be used to advertise sponsors. products. While forms of acknowledgment may vary the following methods are acceptable:

• attendance by the sponsor at official CAN functions where the former has been invited to make an address or present awards at such functions; public display of signs acknowledging the sponsorship at relevant conferences and training workshops etc;
• acknowledgment of the sponsorship in one or more of the site.s online news postings or printed publications;
• inclusion of a webpage link (to the sponsor.s homepage). Where HTML text is used (as opposed to graphic images) the font size should not be larger than +2.

Links to external web sites are individually reviewed for appropriateness and usefulness to our online visitors. Although links may fit one of the criteria below, this is a simplified description of our policy and does not automatically mean acceptance or denial of a proposed link is assured. (See Conditions of Use.)

All corporate/for-profit web site links are carefully considered by us on a case by case basis.

8.2 Inclusion of the sponsor.s logo or name on selected publications, including site pages and search result forms. Where permitted, a sponsor's name or company logo should not be larger than the CAN logo and, should not exceed an area of 460 by 60 pixels.

8.3 As CAN is managed by the Powerhouse Museum (PHM) on DCITA.s behalf, sponsors may be eligible for additional sponsor benefits as detailed in the PHM.s Corporate Members Prospectus and Partnership Opportunities document.

9. ENDORSEMENT

9.1 While sponsorship agreements may allow exposure of the sponsor's corporate logo or name, the written agreement will not necessarily endorse or recommend any product or service.

9.2 No statement in the sponsor.s advertising should imply that a product or service is recommended or endorsed by CAN.

9.3 CAN staff are not permitted to be involved in marketing commercial products of sponsors.

Last updated: 13 April 2005