Online services guidelines        

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Privacy   
Harm and offence   
Children   
Politics, elections and polling   
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Links to external sites   
Credits for outside providers of material   
Partnerships, including partnerships with business   
Interacting with our audiences   
The law   
Accountability and complaints   

Section 14: Partnerships, including Partnerships with business    

Sponsorship  
Donations
Partnership funding
Commercial or agency-funded contracts
Cost-sharing partnerships with non-commercial organizations

Introduction
We are committed to working collaboratively with others to deepen the impact of our activities and extend creative possibilities. Working in partnership is a crucial element of the British Council’s approach. We only enter into such arrangements where our objectives are complementary with the objectives of our partners. Any acknowledgement of a partner relationship must be in line with our charitable status.

Sector and business directors in the UK and country directors overseas are accountable for ensuring that all the websites managed by people in their teams comply with these guidelines.

Note that these guidelines apply to any partnership which the British Council may enter into, including partnerships with businesses. Any relationship with, and acknowledgements of, a business partnership must be in line with the corporate business risk management framework and aligned with policy, legal obligations and ethical guidelines governing business relations.Further details are available on the Business Relations intranet site.

What we refer to as partnership can take a number of different forms and the usual types of arrangement are outlined below

Sponsorship  

Sponsorship is defined as payment, both cash and in-kind, in return for specific commercial benefits or services. Any benefit which provides a promotional service , such as the on-line display of a logo, will define the relationship as sponsorship. Displays of company logos are permitted in return for sponsorship provided the contractual arrangements are in line with the British Council’s legal obligations. (see notes on British Council Trading)   
The British Council is a registered charity and subject to English charity law and regulations. The law acknowledges that charities such as the British Council may raise money through non-educational activities such as sponsorship, where a series of benefits are offered in exchange for cash or in-kind support. This is considered non-primary purpose trading and as such should be processed through the mechanism of the trading company, British Council Trading International Limited (usually referred to as British Council Trading).   
The mechanism of the trading company now enables us to offer a wider range of benefits to appropriate business partners including: click-throughs to partner sites; opportunities for partners to actively engage in marketing at British Council events, advertising space in our magazines, brochures and websites or affiliate marketing schemes. But remember, in order for the British Council to remain within the legal framework, these benefits should only be offered through the mechanism of British Council Trading. Full details and step-by-step guidance is available online from the British Council Trading intranet site.   
It is corporate policy that there should be written agreements governing the relationship between sponsoring companies and the British Council. Templates for letters of agreement and sponsorship contracts are available on the Business Relations intranet site   
Any benefits or recognition offered to a partner, must be editorially justified and in line with the British Council’s policy and ethical guidelines on business partnerships. For example, we would under no circumstances link to a site promoting tobacco.   
The prominence given to the partner’s logo in terms of its size and positioning should not detract from the pre-eminence of the British Council’s own brand.    
The partner’s logo should be used onlyl once on the most relevant website pages. It is not permitted to place another organisation’s logo on the home page of any country or UK sector or www.britishcouncil.org   

Donations

Donations are payments from individuals, organisations or companies for which no benefits are sought in return. In return for donations, modest acknowledgement on printed and web material is permitted but display of a company's logo and/or a click-through to its own site are not.   

Partnership funding

Partnership funding is funding from an organisation or business in support of British Council activity when payment is directly linked to the costs of the activity. The activity should be clearly delivered in partnership. This should be treated in the same way as a donation, for which no benefits are sought in return. Modest acknowledgement on print and web material is permitted but display of the organisation or company's logo is not.    

For policy guidance and further advice on the above see the Business Relations intranet site.

Commercial or agency-funded contracts

Where we are contracted to deliver a service on behalf of a government agency (for example, a Department for Education and Skills funded school exchange scheme), it is acceptable to display the agency's logo;  in such a case, it is unlikely that we would be challenged for unfairly promoting the interests of any one partner. We could not be challenged in law for offering the display of the logo as a benefit for sponsorship which would need to be contracted through British Council Trading International. In this case, the agency's logo should be accompanied by a short phrase to make the nature of the partnership clear, such as: Managed by the British Council on behalf of (followed by the partner's logo).   
On no account should commercial enterprises with which we enter into a commercial arrangement (for example, a bank whose staff we train at our teaching centre) be offered any promotion in the form of a logo on a website as a benefit of the partnership; this would require the partnership to be contracted through British Council Trading International.   

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