IKEA Seeks Partnership with Children’s NFP

International furniture giant IKEA is looking to secure a partnership with a national children’s charity, offering up to $300,000 in funding.

IKEA Australia says it is looking to initiate a three-year partnership with a Not for Profit organisation working in Australia, specifically with offices or activities located close to their Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne stores.

“The partnership will include cash donations, 1000 days of volunteer help from IKEA employees and the opportunity to hold fundraising events at local IKEA stores,” IKEA Australia’s Sustainability Manager Richard Wilson said.

“The partnership will operate under IKEA’s sustainability program, People and Planet as well as their membership loyalty card program, the IKEA Family, which currently donates 10 cents from every purchase to charity.

“The company already donates half of this fund to UNICEF Australia. The other half will now go towards the new partnership,” he said.

“The Food With Love program from IKEA restaurants, starting in September, will also donate $1 up to $30,000 from every organic children’s meal it sells.

“We are looking for an organisation that will allow IKEA and its employees to work together with the organisation.”

He said IKEA’s social community focus has always been with children.

“At IKEA we are guided by our vision of creating a better everyday life for the many people,” he said.

“We also recognise that we have a responsibility beyond the home through the impact of our business and the role we have in society. We need to make a small, but significant, contribution.”

To be eligible organisations must:

• Be a registered Not for Profit with Deductible Gift Recipient Status, working to address the development of Children including disadvantaged children, living conditions, health, education, early childhood development.
• Be a national organisation providing services in Australia with projects that have an impact on, and are located on a local level in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, ideally close to IKEA stores.
• Have meaningful, varied volunteering opportunities for IKEA employees in Sydney,Brisbane and Melbourne.
• Be able to evaluate and measure what you do to, show credible, tangible, practical results/impacts and have transparent financial reporting.

Organisations must not:

• Be political, religious or discriminatory in nature
• Be a government entity
• Provide services exclusively for one gender e.g. exclusively for girls or for boys
• Be a fundraising appeal, a medical research institute or a hospital
• Not have an annual income more than $20million per year.

To apply email IKEA Australia’s Sustainability Manager: richard.wilson1@ikea.com
Applications close 12 noon, Friday July, 19.