Charitable giving is an essential part of ITV's Corporate Responsibility strategy (CR).
In 2012, ITV contributed cash and in-kind support worth £5 million. This equates to 1.4% of our pre-profit tax; above the 100 FTSE average of 1%. In addition to our direct contribution, we raised an additional £10.5 million through external fundraising and campaigns (over £4 million increase on 2012); totalling over £15.5 million pounds for charity.
ITV's giving is made of a range of activities, including air-time for appeals or charitable programming, show tickets and merchandise to auction off as charitable prizes, the use of our facilities and expertise for projects and direct cash donations.
It is essential that we have a framework around our charitable giving to ensure that any charities, campaigns, or causes we are endorsing as 'ITV' in a corporate, broadcasting or content making capacity are credible, that any charitable giving is lawful, and that anyone who has a vested interest in ITV can understand the value of our commitment.
ITV holds a Charitable Giving Policy that links to our Code of Conduct and Anti-Bribery Policy. This policy applies to ITV plc and its direct and indirect wholly owned subsidiary companies, both UK and overseas.
Having a policy and centralised process for charitable giving promotes transparency, fairness and enables us to share our good news stories around the level of support we give.
Requests for charitable giving
As a well-known company both nationally and within our local communities, we receive a large volume of requests for support across the year. In 2012 we donated £5 million in support through cash donations and in-kind giving. We recognise that our support can have a significant impact for a charity or cause and therefore review requests we receive against our charitable giving framework. If you are looking for support from ITV please follow the guidelines below.
All individuals or organisations supported by ITV's charitable giving programme must be able to demonstrate the following:
- Have registered charitable status or equivalent
- Clear equality policy in relation to protected characteristics covered by the Equality Act 2010. Including age, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief.
- Defined target audience, reach and impact which aligns to ITV's Corporate Responsibility Strategy
For organisations who are eligible, our support is then prioritised as follows:
- Priority is given to charities and causes that are aligned to our CR strategy and objectives for that particular year. These organisations and causes are usually supported in conjunction with our own appeals, programme storylines or features.
- A significant part of our annual support is dedicated to supporting local charities or causes within the communities we operate. We also prioritise support for the local charities and causes our colleagues' with to help.
If, after the above priorities have been met, any additional support is available, we will prioritise who we help by ensuring the organisations match at least one of the following activities/goals (in no particular order):
- Supports the future and sustainability of drama and arts, with a particular preference for organisations working with their local communities and has some activity outside of London.
- Makes a difference at grass-roots level within the communities they represent
- Helps to promote access to the industry through a diversity focused remit
- Offers expertise, guidance or assistance across an area that we have identified within our business operations that we wish to improve or to make a positive change
If you or your organisation meets our eligibility and strategic priorities outlined above, you can write or email us.
Please ensure you highlight how you meet our criteria and what support you are looking for to be included in our review process.
We strive to consider all legitimate requests and respond within a month. Please be aware that it is very unlikely we are able to consider projects with a lead time of less than 3 months due to the high volume of requests we receive.
Postal address:
Responsibility team
104 ITV Yorkshire
Kirkstall Road
Leeds
LS3 1JS
Email: responsibility@itv.com
