Partnership will deliver cost-effective, impactful and swift crisis response globally
Newcastle, June 7, 2023 – 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."
Laura Griffin, Director of Fundraising, Partnerships and Communications, CARE International UK, said:
“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. 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 are disproportionately affected by disasters.”
About Sage Foundation
Sage Foundation is committed to breaking down barriers for underrepresented groups by investing in education, technology and the environment to create a more sustainable future. We do this by empowering our colleagues to volunteer their time to the causes they care about, and by providing discounted software to eligible charities, social enterprises, and other non-profit organisations.
Since 2015, we have participated in almost 150,000 volunteer days and fundraised almost $3 million to support not-for-profit organisations globally – but we’re not stopping there. We aim to raise $5 million towards helping our communities thrive by 2030.
About Sage
Sage exists to knock down barriers so everyone can thrive, starting with the millions of Small and Mid-Sized Businesses served by us, our partners and accountants. Customers trust our finance, HR and payroll software to make work and money flow. By digitising business processes and relationships with customers, suppliers, employees, banks and governments, our digital network connects SMBs, removing friction and delivering insights. Knocking down barriers also means we use our time, technology and experience to tackle digital inequality, economic inequality and the climate crisis.
About CARE International UK
CARE International is a leading humanitarian organisation fighting global poverty, operating in over 100 countries. CARE International UK is a member of the global CARE International confederation.
Founded in 1945, we work around the globe to save lives, defeat poverty and achieve social justice. We seek a world of hope, inclusion and social justice, where poverty has been overcome and all people live with dignity and security.
We place special focus on women and girls, because we know that we cannot overcome poverty until all people have equal rights and opportunities.
Media enquiries
For any media enquiries, please contact David Moore, CARE International UK Media Officer at moore@careinternational.org.
