A partnership between the franchising and charity industries is not one that comes readily to mind, however the relationship can prove to be valuable and profitable for both. For a franchise, supporting charities can help to improve its corporate image, thus enabling it to tap into the increasing ethical consumer market.

Research carried out by Mori* found that "a quarter of the public has participated in cause marketing - buying a product because of an established link to a charitable organisation. Around one in five has chosen a product because of a company's ethical reputation and conversely a similar proportion has boycotted a company's product on ethical grounds."

The advantages for Charities are numerous, the obvious financial benefit being a boost to fundraising and donations, but also including access to the company's input and expertise and the opportunity to increase the awareness of the charity and its cause.

An illustration of how a successful partnership can be formed between a franchise and a charity can be seen with ChariSnack and the National Blind Children's Society (NBCS). ChariSnack, which sells health snacks in self-service boxes to office workers, has teamed up with NBCS and donates a percentage of the sale of every snack to the charity. Gordon Blood, Franchise Director of ChariSnack, explains: "I have a background of professional fundraising and when I decided to go into business I was keen to incorporate raising funds for charity into my business model. I chose to support NBCS because I had previously worked for the Royal National Institute for the Blind and knew of the incredibly important services NBCS provide for blind and partially sighted young people on a national basis. Also, both my mother and my brother are severely visually impaired so I was keen to help a charity working in this field.

"ChariSnack has developed a very close relationship with the charity and the people and organisations that host our ChariSnack boxes generally appear happy to host a box in the knowledge that they are helping the charity as well as having the convenience of healthier snacks available in their workplace. Also, our association with a national charity was helpful and gave us a certain amount of credibility when we first launched the business. We now pay the charity thousands of pounds a month and this fact is generally applauded by our customers and has helped retain their loyalty."

According to Gordon the teaming up of ChariSnack and NBCS has not only benefited the company and charity, but also ChariSnack franchisees. He comments: "Many of our franchisees have said that part of the satisfaction they get from operating a ChariSnack business is knowing that they are helping charity at the same time. There is a definite feel-good factor knowing that a donation is being made for every single ChariSnack branded product sold from their self-service snack boxes and over £250,000 has been donated already."

The partnership between ChariSnack and NBCS is unique within the UK franchise industry, however many other franchises support charities through fundraising and donations. One example is ChipsAway, which holds company-led charity events as well as encouraging staff and franchisee fundraising, such as a recent all-female support staff team that participated in the national Cancer Research 'Race for Life' event (pictured right).

Lloyd Evans, ChipsAway's Chief Executive, comments: "Corporately we hold events for local charities - such as our Christmas Charity Auction for the local Kemp Hospice in Kidderminster, which everyone supports, invariably raising hundreds of pounds for our selected charity. However, in addition to these company-led events, there are always opportunities for us to support a wide range of different causes, thanks to the efforts and commitment of our many staff and ChipsAway franchisees."

Other franchisees that have held recent events to aid charities include MOLLY MAID, which sold £1 drink vouchers at its National Conference and donated all the money made from the sales to Cancer Research, the total of which amounted to £1,190; and Mundays, which recently held a fun run to raise money for the Princess Alice Hospice. Additionally Martin & Co spent the first part of 2008 fundraising for a specialist play park for disabled children at the Birtenshaw Hall Children's Charitable Trust in Bolton, for which the company donated over £3,000 (pictured above right).

However, the partnership between franchising and charities is not solely based upon fundraising and donations. For example a non-profit organisation has been set up in the UK called VetFran (GB), which is a programme for British Veterans to assist them in becoming franchisees by providing a discount off the initial franchise fee. Furthermore, VetFran donates any proceeds to the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA) Forces Help. VetFran (GB) is a concept that was originally established in the USA in the '90s, where it now has over 250 franchises participating in its programme.

Another charitable initiative that has taken root in the USA is the buying and operating of franchises by the charities themselves. This concept has appealed to charities as they use the business to encourage community development, establish quality job-training opportunities for their clients and generate revenue to support their other programmes. Although the same risks apply as with starting up any new business, it is becoming increasingly popular in the USA with both charities and franchisors. As of yet the initiative has not been tested in the UK market.

Although the opportunities that franchises and charities present to one another are starting to be explored, the main way the franchise and charity partnership continues to operate is through franchises supporting charities. For those wanting to look into supporting a charity, Gordon Blood advises: "First of all they should be aware that there are strict laws, under the Charities Act 1992, governing commercial participation with charities and they should ensure they fully understand and comply with the required legislation.

"It is very important, for instance, that they have a formal written commercial partnership agreement with any charity before they can use the charity's logo or state that a specific donation is to be made in connection with any service or product being offered. Franchises should ensure that the charity they wish to work with is registered with the Charity Commission before putting together their proposal and contacting the person in the charity responsible for corporate fundraising."

*The Public's Views of Corporate Responsibility, Mori 2005

Reported by Derin Ibrahim