Sponsorship procedure (schools) — appropriate sponsor and approval limits
Principles of sponsorship management
- Ensuring probity
- Achieving efficiency and effectiveness
- Maintaining transparency and accountability
- Implementing effective risk management
DET priorities
- Contributes to advancement of Victorian whole-of-government priorities, this may include:
- promotes educational outcomes
- creates employment opportunities for local or regional business
- promotes opportunities to industry
- develops export markets and attracts investment
- Supports DET's goals and objectives
- Increases effectiveness of DET’s strategic programs
- Communicates key messages to target audiences
- Engages or builds relationships with key stakeholders
Inappropriate activities
- Activities aimed at delivering or replacing core DET or agency services
- Values, products, purposes or objectives which are inconsistent with DET’s
- Political parties, tobacco companies, gaming venues, companies involved in the sale/promotion of alcohol, companies involved in the sale/promotion of firearms
- Companies that encourage unhealthy food choices by young people
- Religious organisations or religious activities
- Charities and not-for-profit organisations not registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission
- Organisations or companies that are financially unsound or unstable
- Agencies with inspectorial or regulatory powers over DET
- Sponsors requiring DET to directly endorse or promote its products/ services
- Any activity in breach of the Code of Conduct for Victorian Public Sector employees or (for school councils) the Code of Conduct for Directors of Victorian public entities
Forms of sponsorship
Incoming
- Placement of a plaque or notice
- Temporary signage acknowledging the sponsorship
- Acknowledgement in newsletters
- Letter of appreciation
- Inclusion of a by-line, forward or advertisement
Outgoing
- Public acknowledgements
- Logo placement and signage
- Speaking engagement
- Social media posts
- Opportunities to network
Requirements
- Schools must undertake sponsorships in an ethical and fair manner and disclose all conflicts of interests
- Sponsorship agreements must have end dates
- Schools must maintain and record their own sponsorship register for all sponsorships
- All sponsorships above $25,000 need to be approved by Regional Director, Executive Director of Communications and submitted to the Communications team sponsorship@education.vic.gov.au
- If the Sponsor requires the naming rights of a government asset, event or initiative the Communications team must be informed and a ministerial approval sought
- Schools being approached with requests to advertise state-wide or country wide corporate sponsorships (e.g. banks, supermarkets, etc.) are to refer these requests to the Communications Division
- For any other questions or support contact schools.procurement@education.vic.gov.au
Sponsorship steps
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Step 1: Types of approaches
- Unsolicited or direct approach by sponsor — Where an unsolicited proposal is made by a sponsor, consider whether this opportunity could be advertised to ensure fair competition. Where the decision is made not to publicly advertise, the rationale for this decision must be documented.
Template for step: Sponsorship - Advertised — Where a competitive process is undertaken, selection criteria must be used to evaluate the responses.
- Unsolicited or direct approach by sponsor — Where an unsolicited proposal is made by a sponsor, consider whether this opportunity could be advertised to ensure fair competition. Where the decision is made not to publicly advertise, the rationale for this decision must be documented.
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Step 2: Assess proposed sponsorship
Assess the proposed sponsorship against this policy. The sponsorship checklist must be used to complete this step.
Templates for step
- All sponsorship: Sponsorship
- Outgoing sponsorship: Outgoing Rejection Letter
Step 3: Assess value and benefits
For sponsorships over $25,000 the business case template must be completed.
Template for step
- All sponsorship: Business Case
Step 4: Draft agreement — Sponsorships must be formalised
Sponsorships less than or equal to $25,000 may use an engagement letter to formalise the sponsorship.
Sponsorships greater than $25,000 must use an agreement to formalise the sponsorship.
Templates for step
- All sponsorship: Sponsorship Agreement
- Incoming sponsorship: Incoming Engagement
- Outgoing sponsorship: Outgoing Engagement
Step 5: Registering the Sponsorship
All School sponsorship activities must be registered by the school on their own internal register.
Sponsorships greater than $25,000 must be reported to the Portfolio Communications Branch, who will register the sponsorship, to do this complete the Sponsorship declaration form and email it to sponsorship@education.vic.gov.au
Templates for step
- All sponsorship: Sponsorship Declaration
- Incoming sponsorship: Sponsorship register (for schools
- Outgoing sponsorship: Sponsorship register (for schools
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Step 6: Monitor the sponsorship
Monitor the sponsorship to ensure all the agreed elements are delivered. Incoming funds must be recorded in CASES21 as 74580.
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Step 7: Evaluate the sponsorship
Sponsorships valued greater than $25,000 should be evaluated at the completion. This is done by requesting the sponsorship partner complete an evaluation form and the school undertaking a post sponsorship evaluation report.
Templates for step
- All sponsorship: Sponsorship Declaration
- Incoming sponsorship: Sponsorship register (for schools
- Outgoing sponsorship: Sponsorship register (for schools
Reviewed 04 October 2022