Meeting Needs, the events industry’s own charity foundation, is calling on suppliers, agencies and venues to become Foundation Partners as businesses face growing pressure to demonstrate meaningful and measurable social value.
The charity says more event businesses are being asked by procurement teams and clients to show exactly what their corporate social responsibility commitments fund and what outcomes they deliver. In response, Meeting Needs is encouraging more companies to move beyond CSR statements and support specific charitable projects through its Foundation Partnership programme.
The scheme already has the backing of major industry organisations including Excel London and MAGS WORLDWIDE, with Meeting Needs now looking to expand its Foundation Partner network ahead of its next funding round.
Meeting Needs Offers a Direct Approach to Social Impact
For many businesses in the events industry, demonstrating social responsibility has become an increasingly important part of winning and retaining clients. However, a CSR policy alone does not always demonstrate tangible results.
Meeting Needs believes its Foundation Partnership model offers businesses a more transparent way to demonstrate their social impact. Rather than making a general donation to a large charity, partner contributions support specific projects selected and monitored directly by Meeting Needs’ volunteer board.
This allows businesses to understand where their support goes and, importantly, what it achieves.
The foundation is operated by around 16 volunteers from across the events industry, supported by one part-time administrator and without a permanent office. This lean operating structure helps keep overheads low and ensures that partner contributions can be directed towards charitable outcomes.
Supporting Projects With Measurable Outcomes
Meeting Needs says its approach is focused on finding projects where relatively modest financial support can deliver a significant difference.
In Aldershot, for example, the foundation supports Community Grub Hub, which distributes between 1.5 and 1.7 tonnes of food every week. Much of the food is rescued from landfill through FareShare, while Meeting Needs funding helps provide six months of fresh food for approximately 240 families.
Internationally, Meeting Needs is also supporting a mountain ambulance service in Tanzania. The project operates in a village that can only be reached by a three-hour journey over rough terrain or a two-day walk. Funding from the foundation helps keep the ambulance operational, with the service completing 52 emergency transfers in the previous year.
The charity is also supporting Petals, a UK organisation providing specialist counselling to couples following the loss of a baby. Through the project, ten couples are receiving counselling sessions every fortnight.
These projects demonstrate the type of grassroots initiatives that Meeting Needs believes can benefit from targeted support from businesses within the events industry.
Founded to Give the Events Industry Greater Control
Meeting Needs was established in 2003 following the long-running partnership between the M&IT Industry Awards Dinner and Save the Children.
That relationship had raised more than £2 million at its peak, with Princess Anne serving as patron. However, changes to the charity’s fundraising policy eventually made the arrangement unworkable.
Meeting Needs founder Martin Lewis, together with Harry Baum, Charles Blowfield and Charles Robinson, subsequently established a charity that could be managed and directed by the events industry itself.
The principle behind the foundation remains central to its work today: giving people within the events industry greater visibility and influence over where their charitable contributions go.
“This was the perfect opportunity to create our own charity and choose our own beneficiaries,” says Martin Lewis, founder of Meeting Needs. “We wanted to be able to see, for the first time, exactly what our industry’s generosity was achieving, and to back projects we believed in directly, rather than handing money over and hoping.”
Lewis says this same principle is reflected in the Foundation Partnership programme, giving businesses an opportunity to understand precisely where their support goes and what it delivers.
Royal Parks Half Marathon Raises More Than £220,000
Meeting Needs’ fundraising programme has also expanded considerably since its early days.
One of its flagship fundraising activities is the Royal Parks Half Marathon, which has grown from just ten runners during its first year to as many as 40 participants in more recent editions.
The event has generated more than £220,000 for Meeting Needs to date, including more than £30,000 raised in 2022 alone. The charity expects its overall fundraising from the event to surpass £250,000.
For a charity operating without a dedicated paid fundraising team, corporate infrastructure or a substantial marketing budget, the fundraising achievement highlights the continued commitment of people working across the events sector.
Foundation Partnerships Give Businesses Greater Visibility
Meeting Needs says becoming a Foundation Partner is designed to be straightforward for businesses.
Partners support the charity’s work while receiving visibility through its communications channels and fundraising activity. They can also gain direct insight into the projects their support helps fund.
This can be particularly valuable for agencies, venues and suppliers that are increasingly expected to provide evidence of their social value commitments during procurement processes.
Rather than simply referring prospective clients to a CSR policy, businesses can demonstrate how their support contributes to specific projects and measurable outcomes.
Foundation Partners can also participate in Meeting Needs’ existing programme of fundraising activity, including events, raffles, auctions and challenges such as the Royal Parks Half Marathon. This gives businesses the flexibility to determine how prominently they want to participate.
Events Industry Employees Can Make a Direct Difference
Meeting Needs also highlights the personal impact of taking part in its fundraising initiatives.
Charlotte Bliss, Account Director at Northstar Travel Group and a multiple participant in the Royal Parks Half Marathon for Meeting Needs, says the connection between fundraising and real-world outcomes makes the experience particularly meaningful.
“There is something incredibly powerful about knowing that the miles you run, the money you raise and the effort you put in can translate into real, tangible change for someone else,” says Bliss.
She adds that Meeting Needs’ support can be particularly valuable to smaller charities and individuals delivering important work without the resources available to larger organisations.
Why Foundation Partnerships Matter for the Events Industry
The events industry has long relied on fundraising, sponsorship and charitable partnerships to create positive social impact. However, as ESG and social value requirements become increasingly important in procurement and corporate decision-making, businesses are under greater pressure to demonstrate measurable results.
Meeting Needs believes its Foundation Partnership model can help bridge that gap by connecting event businesses directly with carefully selected charitable projects.
For suppliers, venues and agencies, the partnership can provide a practical way to strengthen their social value proposition while supporting causes that deliver tangible community benefits.
For Meeting Needs, expanding the Foundation Partner network will provide additional resources to support grassroots projects selected by the charity’s volunteer board.
Meeting Needs Encourages More Industry Support
As the events industry continues to place greater emphasis on responsible business practices, Meeting Needs is urging more companies to consider how their social value commitments can produce measurable outcomes.
Its Foundation Partnership programme offers an opportunity for businesses to move beyond a CSR statement and demonstrate a direct connection between their support and charitable impact.
With existing supporters including Excel London and MAGS WORLDWIDE, Meeting Needs is now looking to build on that foundation and bring more event suppliers, agencies and venues into its network.
For an industry built around bringing people together, the charity believes that creating meaningful social impact can be another way for businesses to demonstrate the value of those connections.
