Donations/Sponsorship

Donations

Diversity in Sustainability is run by a small group of dedicated volunteers as well as a handful of paid interns who are paid a living wage. We welcome partners who are aligned with our mission and want to provide donations or sponsorship to support our continued growth. 

Ways to donate:

Please note: although we are a non-profit organization, we are not (yet) a charity and as a result, cannot issue tax receipts. We are looking to partner with charitable organizations in the future in order to do so. Please stay tuned.

Sponsorship

Diversity in Sustainability also welcomes sponsors. Sponsorship falls into one of two categories: 

  1. General sponsorship - providing funding to the overall operations of the organization.

  2. Sponsoring part of our offerings -  e.g. events, subsidizing memberships/scholarships to allow access to underserved members of the BIPOC/BAME community. Please email us at info@diversityinsustainability.com to discuss further.

Principles of engagement for our partners

Partnering with other organizations is imperative in helping us reach our objectives at Diversity in Sustainability to build a sustainable and equitable world. We proactively seek out collaborators that align with our mission and values and evaluate each to ensure they meet our Principles of Engagement. These principles lay out how we can best effect change with our partners, donors, sponsors, and funders  (all collectively referred to as “partner” below).

Principles:

  1. Support our mission, vision and values: All engagement should advance Diversity in Sustainability’s goals and objectives. The partner organizations should respect the sensitivities of Diversity in Sustainability’s members and any other partners.

  2. Advance diversity, equity and inclusion: Partners that we work with must demonstrate a commitment to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion objectives through their policies and practices, and disclose publicly how they are implementing these policies and practices. We aim to conduct due diligence with our partners from the outset of our relationship and annually thereafter.

  3. Maintain independence and objectivity: Diversity in Sustainability may accept funds from partners only when this will not compromise independence, objectivity or our values. We believe that every partner has the right to maintain their integrity and autonomy of their organizations. However, with funding relationships there can be power imbalances that could potentially undermine the principles of autonomy and independence. The imbalances will be mitigated by clear communications of positions, expectations, and roles and responsibilities. We will also encourage dialogue and debate around our strategy, goals, results and impact, while recognizing the need for balancing institutional autonomy and independence with overall program support and the health of the organization.

  4. Achieve mutual benefit: We want to ensure that engagements have meaningful and equitable benefits to all parties involved, but first and foremost, should advance diversity, equity and inclusion in the sector of sustainability. Due to justice, equity, diversity, inclusion and sustainability being non-exclusive issues of importance, there is no exclusivity in partner relationships.

  5. Avoid risks: We will not engage with partners that pose a potential material risk to Diversity in Sustainability. Material risks include those that affect or create a perception of impact on Diversity in Sustainability’s reputation or ability to achieve its objectives, which could include social risks such as  human rights violations , poor environmental performance , non-compliance with regulations, unethical practices, or other controversies.

  6. Refrain from endorsement: Our engagement with partners should not be seen as an endorsement of the organization, its industry, policies, products, services or programs. Nor should it be seen as a commercial relationship such that either party will act as an agent of the other party.

  7. Foster transparency: Diversity in Sustainability will communicate publicly on all partners it engages with, and their contribution to the organization’s mission. Diversity in Sustainability also reserves the right to be transparent and independent by retaining the option to publicly comment on the merits of any partner’s activities that may affect justice, equity, diversity and/or inclusion priorities.

  8. Support confidentiality: If any confidential and/or proprietary information or material pertaining to Diversity in Sustainability or its activities, has been acquired by a partner as a result of its work with Diversity in Sustainability, the partner will not be permitted to use the information for private or commercial gain.

Implementation of the principles:

  1. Termination of partnership: Diversity in Sustainability reserves the right to terminate its engagement with partners if it deems that they pose reputational or other harm to the organization or its constituents.

  2. Applicability of partnership: These terms will be applied equally to all partners engaged with or pursuing potential engagements with Diversity in Sustainability.

Partners

We are also open to working with organizations with similar missions who can share resources to meet our mutual objectives and are happy to cross-promote initiatives that are useful for our community.