Policies / Fundraising
Responsible support, fundraising, and sponsorship principles.
This policy explains how HEADTURNED Foundation approaches donations, contributions, sponsorship arrangements, and related support relationships in a way that protects mission alignment, independence, trust, and long-term responsibility.
Purpose and scope
Support should strengthen the mission without compromising independence or integrity.
This policy sets out how HEADTURNED Foundation approaches donations, contributions, sponsorship, in-kind support, grants, strategic backing, and related partnership arrangements.
The Foundation is currently a privately operated organisation and is not a registered charity. Any support, donation, sponsorship, or contribution should be understood in that context unless expressly stated otherwise.
This policy applies to support and fundraising activity led, requested, accepted, promoted, or commissioned by the Foundation, whether online, offline, public, private, direct, or partner-led.
Related documents
Fundraising and sponsorship sit alongside the wider trust, complaints, whistleblowing, and privacy framework.
Policies Overview
Brings together the trust, compliance, and governance policies that support the Foundation website.
Complaints
Explains how concerns, complaints, and formal issues may be raised and handled.
Whistleblowing
Explains how serious concerns may be raised safely, responsibly, and in good faith.
Privacy Policy
Explains how personal information is collected, used, stored, and protected.
Principles
Fundraising and sponsorship activity should be lawful, honest, proportionate, and mission-aligned.
- support should be sought and accepted in a lawful, honest, respectful, and transparent way;
- communications should not mislead, exaggerate, pressure, or create false expectations;
- support should remain consistent with the Foundation’s mission, environmental direction, animal welfare values, and public trust responsibilities;
- funding or sponsorship should not create improper influence, conflicted decision-making, or reputational dependency;
- supporters, sponsors, donors, and contributors should be treated with respect and appropriate confidentiality; and
- the Foundation should retain appropriate discretion to protect mission, compliance, operational resilience, and long-term impact.
Accepting or declining support
The Foundation may decline or return support where accepting it would create risk or misalignment.
The Foundation is grateful for appropriate support, but it is not obliged to accept every donation, contribution, sponsorship, grant, offer, introduction, or partnership opportunity.
Support may be declined, returned, restricted, paused, or reviewed where accepting it could:
- conflict with the Foundation’s mission, values, public trust, independence, or long-term direction;
- create a real or perceived conflict of interest;
- create association with serious environmental harm, animal cruelty, exploitation, unlawful activity, corruption, abuse, or other activity inconsistent with the Foundation’s purpose;
- impose conditions that are inappropriate, unclear, unlawful, unrealistic, or operationally unsuitable;
- compromise safeguarding, welfare, privacy, governance, or decision-making standards; or
- expose the Foundation to unacceptable legal, financial, reputational, ethical, operational, or regulatory risk.
Sponsorship and partnerships
Commercial or mutual-benefit arrangements must remain compatible with the mission.
Sponsorship arrangements and related partnerships may involve mutual benefits, such as visibility, acknowledgement, strategic involvement, expertise, in-kind support, or funding in return for agreed recognition or participation.
Such arrangements should:
- be documented clearly where appropriate;
- set out the nature of the support, expectations, benefits, responsibilities, limits, and review points;
- avoid requirements for the Foundation to endorse products, services, claims, practices, or organisations that conflict with its mission or values;
- preserve Foundation independence and decision-making authority;
- avoid inappropriate exclusivity, control, influence, or reputational dependency; and
- remain subject to review where circumstances, conduct, risk, or alignment materially changes.
Communication and claims
Public communication must be accurate, respectful, and proportionate.
Communications with donors, supporters, contributors, sponsors, and potential partners should be clear, respectful, accurate, and proportionate.
- we should describe support routes, funding needs, and intended use of funds honestly;
- we should avoid exaggerated claims about impact, delivery, charitable status, project certainty, or tax treatment;
- where support is linked to a particular project, theme, or area of work, we should explain any discretion the Foundation retains;
- we should not pressure people to give, participate, or continue support;
- supporter communications should respect privacy and communication preferences; and
- sponsorship recognition should be clear without implying endorsement beyond what has been agreed.
Personal information connected with donors, supporters, or sponsors should be handled in line with the Privacy Policy.
Use of funds
Funds should be applied to the Foundation’s mission, operations, ecosystem development, and related work.
Funds received by the Foundation may be used to support its mission, ecosystem development, operations, infrastructure, planning, professional support, projects, public communications, and related activities.
Where supporters, contributors, sponsors, or partners indicate a preferred theme, project, or area of work, the Foundation will aim to take that preference into account as far as reasonably possible.
The Foundation may retain discretion to redirect or reallocate funds where circumstances change, a project does not proceed, compliance requires it, operational resilience requires it, or doing so better supports the Foundation’s overall mission and impact.
Methods and third parties
Fundraising methods and third-party activity must still reflect Foundation standards.
The Foundation may seek support through lawful routes, including website pages, direct conversations, sponsorship discussions, strategic backing, digital campaigns, grants, events, professional introductions, and partnership-led opportunities.
- methods should be lawful, transparent, proportionate, and respectful;
- fundraising should make clear who is seeking support and for what general purpose;
- third parties acting on behalf of the Foundation should be appropriately authorised;
- third-party materials should be accurate and consistent with Foundation messaging; and
- unauthorised fundraising, misleading claims, or misuse of Foundation branding may be challenged or stopped.
Concerns and records
Concerns about fundraising or sponsorship should be routed through the appropriate policy process.
Concerns or complaints about fundraising, sponsorship, support, donor communication, partnership conduct, or related activity may be raised under the Complaints Policy.
Serious concerns about wrongdoing, concealment, misuse of funds, improper influence, retaliation, or significant risk may be raised under the Whistleblowing Policy.
The Foundation may keep proportionate records of support, sponsorship arrangements, restrictions, preferences, decisions, declined support, due diligence, and related communications where appropriate.
Review and updates
This policy will be reviewed as the Foundation’s activities and support model develop.
This policy will be reviewed periodically and updated where necessary to reflect changes in law, guidance, support routes, sponsorship activity, Foundation structure, payment processes, partnership arrangements, or operational experience.
The version published on this page is the version currently in force.