Partnering with corporations

Partnering with corporations

For over 150 years, the ICRC has worked with the private sector, with governments and other parties to help people affected by conflict or armed violence. By working together we can adapt more quickly, see complex risks more clearly, share and innovate more freely and invest our resources wisely, whilst creating shared value for both partners.

The nature of crisis – of armed conflict and natural disasters – is evolving rapidly. Emergencies are more complex than ever before. As a result, organizations of all kinds are striving to understand how to continue operating at a time when old assumptions are constantly coming into question. Businesses and humanitarian organizations must understand and adapt to the new challenges, opportunities and liabilities if they wish to continue having a meaningful and lasting social impact.

The ICRC corporate partnership team will develop a bespoke relationship with you that meets your priority objectives.

We are proud to partner with worldwide leading companies and organizations to save and improve the lives of people affected by conflict and armed violence. There is tremendous potential for innovative companies to become pioneers in the area of partnership with the ICRC and to provide support for our operations worldwide.

By working with us you support the unique Red Cross movement; the largest humanitarian network in the world. 

Creating shared value

Benefits for you:

  • Visible demonstration of corporate social responsibility, positive media coverage and publicity.

  • Collaboration based on joint needs. We will work with you to understand and meet your priority needs.

  • Increased staff motivation. We can advise you on best practice, logistics regarding donations raised and how you can use your employees' activities to benefit your strategic business objectives.

  • Enhanced reputation with customers. A simple, yet effective way to work with the ICRC while also effectively communicating the quality of your brand values to your customers.

  • Knowledge and expertise exchange. We encourage our partners to learn from us and share successes in order to innovate together.

See also:

The ICRC has a longstanding history of engagement with the corporate sector. Our collaboration with the corporate sector covers five pillars, which are briefly explained below. Though not all corporate partners are interested in collaborating across all five pillars, at the heart of each partnership is the drive to strengthen the social and humanitarian impact of our work with victims of conflict and other situations of violence. 


Making sense of a complex world
By working with the private sector we can continue to adapt to and meet new challenges posed by the nature of armed conflict and natural disaster. This could range from humanitarian dialogue with businesses working in complex environments to analysing global emerging issues and shared risks together.

Innovation and shared value creation
The ICRC has a long history of innovative programming and partnerships with the corporate sector. Over the years ICRC has developed numerous innovative humanitarian solutions and engaged with corporate actors in a variety of ways. From both sides we can benefit from the power of collective thinking and co-creation, and can develop and test new products and services.

Leveraging complementary assets, networks and skills
The corporate sector has valuable technical expertise, technology solutions and networks that can help the ICRC improve its response and outreach to beneficiaries. Collaboration possibilities cover a broad range of sectors such as health, energy solutions, ITC expertise and logistics.

Impact philanthropy
The ICRC is funded entirely by voluntary donations from governments and private donors. Philanthropic giving therefore remains critical to our work. Our corporate partners support our ongoing emergency appeals for our field operations directly and through employee-giving programmes, including fundraising initiatives and matched-giving programmes.

Collaboration with suppliers
The ICRC collaborates with suppliers in order to ensure and increase its speed of response and flexible capacity in response to crises. Through the regular exchange of best practices and new trends, suppliers provide the ICRC with advice on technical issues and contribute to the design of transformational projects.

Become a supporter or partner of the ICRC
Support our operations and motivate your employees through employee engagement and giving programmes.

Join our Corporate Support Group
Be part of our core group of partners to discuss, share and invest in lasting humanitarian action.

See also
Ethical principals guiding the ICRC's partnerships with the private sector

The Corporate Support Group (CSG) is a forum for like-minded companies and foundations, united by our humanitarian aims and ideals.

Our current Corporate Support Group members:

 
 

 

The impact of your support
We work with our members to explore the possibilities for collaboration on issues of mutual benefit, including risk management, situational analysis, logistics, and operational challenges in fragile States or high-risk contexts. The ICRC looks to our CSG members for initiatives to find innovative solutions to specific strategic challenges that we face.

Exclusive benefits
As a member you will receive invitations to the annual CSG meetings with the president and senior management of the ICRC, ad hoc meetings with senior representatives, field trips, secondment opportunities, briefings by experts, inclusion in the ICRC's annual report, 'preferred partner' status for specific events and campaigns, audiovisual materials, and use of the ICRC's name, image and logo (in accordance with established guidelines).

How to become a member
CSG members contribute to funding the ICRC's work over six-year periods. The relationship involves the ICRC and CSG members aligning their assets and skills in order to maximize the impact and value of their combined humanitarian efforts.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the ICRC Corporate Support Group, please contact us below. 

Ever since its inception, the ICRC has worked with the private sector, and with governments and other partners to develop innovative ways to help people suffering under the weight of war

That tradition of innovating from necessity – to meet humanity's most urgent demands – continues in modern times. For example, the ICRC has been a leader in supporting programmes through which victims of war themselves help develop and build low-cost prostheses for other casualties of war. It has used cash grants and loans as means to help people start small businesses, or small agricultural ventures. In the field of war surgery, its medical personnel have found new solutions for saving lives during conflict, which have influenced the way medicine is practised around the world.

Humanitarians are often driven by a natural curiosity and desire to find solutions to complex problems. In an effort to capitalize on that spirit, the ICRC has created a special innovation unit, strategically located within the office of the director-general; this is a platform within the institution for liaison with private corporations in order to test new and innovative ideas.

GPHI2 is a unique platform that draws on the knowledge and experience of the largest humanitarian network in the world – The Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement – and leverages the creative capacity of corporate and other partners to tackle key humanitarian challenges.

The GPHI2 gathers thought shapers and innovators from a broad range of sectors around one common purpose: improving the impact of humanitarian action.

Employee Fundraising Campaigns

An employee fundraising campaign is an easy way for your business to get involved with the ICRC. Our Corporate Partnerships team can help you to tailor our appeals to fit your company's objectives.

Explore our Fundraising Campaign Toolkit for the resources your business will need to develop a campaign and help save and protect people affected by conflict worldwide.

Partnerships Unit