Sage Foundation today announced a new partnership with CARE International UK, a global humanitarian organisation delivering emergency relief and long-term development projects across the world.
The Foundation will provide £180,000 to support global relief efforts for natural disasters and humanitarian crises as part of its commitment to support communities in need. The partnership will initially run for a year, with the potential to be extended further. Any event causing detrimental social impact will be eligible for support, from naturally occurring disasters such as a hurricane, tsunami or earthquake, to incidents such as a war or terrorist attack.
Since 2015, Sage Foundation has worked with non-profit partners to provide and raise funding to support immediate and medium-term relief efforts in communities affected by disasters. In the past year alone, the Foundation raised nearly £700,000 for relief efforts in Ukraine, Türkiye and Syria. But to date, its work has been divided amongst various relief partners, requiring additional coordination and administrative burdens to ensure disasters were responded to effectively.
With CARE International UK as its sole partner, Sage Foundation can now monitor, evaluate and respond to crises across the world more effectively, scaling and simplifying its disaster relief response. It also brings consistency and equity to the Foundation’s efforts: the global nature of CARE’s work means all impacted communities are considered for relief, regardless of the location of the disaster or the level of attention it has received.
The partnership will cover three key areas:
- Funding – Sage Foundation will provide funding to support primarily with emergency response initiatives. Funding will be provided on a flexible basis, which means the Foundation will deploy an annual budget for disaster response to CARE International UK and work with them to assess how it will be used.
- Fundraising – Sage Foundation will also campaign for colleagues to fundraise for CARE International UK in response to disasters that occur during the partnership. Since 2015, the Foundation has fundraised almost $3 million to support not-for-profit organisations globally.
- Engagement – CARE International UK and Sage Foundation will also co-design a calendar of events, focussed on volunteering, fundraising and engagement activities. This will empower Sage colleagues to engage with CARE, increase their understanding of disaster relief and maximise the Foundation’s impact.
Cadence Willis, Vice President of Sage Foundation, said: “Disaster relief is an important part of Sage Foundation’s commitment to underserved communities. The initiatives we have developed so far have gathered great momentum – but this partnership will allow us to supercharge our efforts and shape a more inclusive approach to relief by pinpointing the areas that need our help most.”
“We are delighted that Sage has chosen to partner with us. I am looking forward to developing a meaningful partnership that will go straight to the heart of what we do – to save lives, defeat poverty and achieve social justice,” said Laura Griffin, Director of Fundraising, Partnerships and Communications, CARE International UK. “As the world faces more extreme weather, humanitarian disasters and conflict, it is critical that everyone responds to the devastating impact these crises are having on communities. Our partnership will ensure that critical emergency response is delivered where it’s needed the most; to vulnerable groups like women and girls who in disasters are disproportionately affected.”
