The Financial Review Magazine Awards-New Focus '03

The Australian Financial Review Magazine’s Sponsorship Awards has undergone a name change. From 2003, the awards will be known as The AFR Magazine Corporate Partnership Awards.

The change of terminology reflects the new realities of an industry which has, seven years after the magazine launched Australia’s first national awards, reached a new level of maturity.

The sophistication and variety of arrangements between sponsors and those they sponsor has greatly increased in recent years.

AFR Magazine editor, Brook Turner says that today a sponsor is likely to offer a diversity of benefits ranging from pro bono work and in-kind services to cash. Maximising the benefits of such arrangements for both sides has made them true partnerships.

Turner says while sponsorship is, of course, by no means dead as a term, true partnerships are widely seen as the direction in which the industry is tending.

As AFR Corporate Partnerships judge Craig Richards says the best sponsorships have always been corporate partnerships with benefit to all parties which are measurable and evaluated.

He says this year’s awards are really just putting a new label on what was already happening.

This year’s awards also introduce a new category of strategic community investment.

Turner says the addition recognises the absolute importance of strategy in partnerships, and the ever-increasing importance of being able to measure and demonstrate benefits all the way to board level.

Turner says these changes underline the values that the AFR Magazine’s Awards have always sought to reinforce: a close working relationship between partners resulting in properly measured and demonstrated results.

This years categories are:

 – Arts
Applies to all visual, performing, musical and literary arts, and includes partnerships both of institutions and for productions, tours, exhibitions, concerts and events.
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 – Sports/Athlete
Covers partnerships for tournaments, matches, series, teams or individual athletes.
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 – Science, environment, health and education
Arrangements whereby the corporate ultimately owns technology or equity are not eligible. Partnerships of science and technology museums and exhibitions would fall into this category
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 – Cultural events and community activities
Applies to museums not specifically involved in the visual arts and a wide variety of community activities from youth groups, urban projects and charity partnerships (as opposed to philanthropic support).
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 – Outstanding long-term partnership
Nominations should concentrate on the depth of commitment to the relationship as well as providing an outline of practices in place for continuous improvement in a maturing relationship. The relationship should be one that has been in place for a minimum of three years.
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 -Strategic Community Investment
Entries are invited from companies that have a strategic and comprehensive community investment program in place.
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 – Corporate Partnership of the Year
This is not a category for entry, but an award given by the judges to one of the winners in a major award category or the Outstanding Long-Term category.

Entrants are required to complete the applicable entry coupon and forward it with a short written submission to:

The Australian Financial Review Magazine 2003 Corporate Partnership Awards
GPO Box 7025
Sydney NSW 2001

by 5pm Thursday April 17, 2003.

For more details, and award criteria and applications forms check out the website at http://afr.com/sponsorawards/entry/.