Best Strategic Partnership
Working in partnership to achieve more
Sponsored by:
This award recognises highly successful partnerships that achieve mutual benefit and fundraising success. This includes partnerships between charities and groups such as companies, trusts, foundations, community groups, media outlets, individuals, ambassadors and other NFPs.​
Applicable types of partnerships
​Including, but not limited to:
-
major gifts partnerships – including capital campaigns
-
community fundraising partnerships – including peer-to-peer, supporter events, signature events
-
digital campaigns
-
individual giving (including matched-giving campaigns)
-
grants, trusts and foundations
-
corporate partnerships
-
media partnerships
-
celebrity/ambassador partnerships.
Criteria
Executive summary - 20%
a) Tell us about your partnership. How does it benefit your fundraising activities and your organisation’s objective, as well as benefit the partnering organisation?
​
b) Please provide a short (approx. 1-3 min) video telling us about your strategic partnership and the impact it has had on your fundraising. This can be a simple video filmed on your phone. The quality of the production will not be considered in the judging process – it’s about the story you tell.
To see examples of some of the videos the judges have rated highly in the past, visit #TopTips | FIA Awards
​
Strategy alignment - 20%
What led you to partner with this organisation? How do both organisations’ strategies align, and how does the partnership deliver mutual benefits to both?
​
FIA Code Alignment - 10%
How do you ensure best practice and ethical fundraising is undertaken and that the partnership aligns with the FIA Code?
Relationship management and stewardship - 20%
How was the relationship managed to ensure it achieved the objectives of your charity and that of your partner? What changes, if any, were made to your fundraising program/s due to this relationship? What lessons were learned?
​
Impact and outcomes - 30%
What was the impact of the partnership on the charity? What was the impact of the partnership on the partner? How were these measured?
Who can enter this category?
Please note that any organisation entering the 2026 FIA Awards must be both a current (2025/26) FIA member and have held FIA membership for a period of at least 12 months prior to submitting their entry.
Organisations from New Zealand are only eligible to enter the 2026 FIA Awards provided they meet the above criteria.
If you require assistance with your FIA membership, please contact us on 1300 889 670 or email members@fia.org.au
Partnerships must span at least 12 months or a set campaign/project period and be during the last 18 months: 1 March 2024 to 31 August 2025. The partnership must be focused on driving common strategic outcomes for both parties. ​​​​