BCC, the not-for-profit organisation for charities seeking greater business support, has released its latest findings in a report entitled "Business Community Partnerships: Fact or Fiction?" The organisation claims that this is the first look at the development of these critical partnerships from the charity perspective

Other key research findings are that 6 in 10 charities are actively approaching businesses for support, but they are mostly receiving one-off donations and sponsorship, rather than building longer-term partnerships. However, there is a roughly equal split between charities finding success with larger companies, and those working with smaller companies. This is believed to reflect the huge scope for developing partnerships with smaller companies, representing the vast majority of businesses in the UK. Additionally, 7 in 10 charities were forecasting an overall increase in their level of business involvement in the coming year.

In terms of marketing strategy, charities report that they find that mass mailshots and cold calling have proven to be the least successful methods. Contacting a known person and face-to-face meetings have proved to be the most successful. It was perhaps surprising, therefore, that over a third (38%) of charities interviewed were still using mailshots to enlist business support.

Building on the research, BCC has included within the report a set of recommendations for selecting, approaching and securing support from business. Whilst developing a network of personal contacts (including building on the contacts of others involved in the charity) remains a key part of the process, BCC also identifies the need for charities to identify companies that are a "good fit" with the charity and its needs for business support. Charlotte Hines, Head of Social Responsibility research at MORI, has welcomed the report saying, "The research provides much needed information on current practice in establishing relationships between charities and business, and has shown that there remains tremendous scope to develop more effective and longer-term partnerships with benefits to both charities and businesses." Sue Lester, Chief Executive of BCC, added that, "Where there is a geographical fit, a link between the charitable cause and the business operations, a link between the charity beneficiaries and the target audience of the business, or where the charity need fits within the community support policy of the business, there are much more likely to be business benefits which will sway the business to support that charity rather than other worthy but less relevant causes." The research was based on 26 in-depth interviews with charities and businesses and 120 interviews among charity personnel involved in developing business support during December 2000 and January 2001.