Assurance Associates Australia

Assurance Associates Australia were engaged to create a model that allows the Cancer Council Australia to evaluate proposals for licensing / CRM campaign partnerships with third parties, as well as an assurance program and presentation for new partners outlining the expectations of the Cancer Council Australia in these arrangements.

Deciding whether to accept a Licensing or Cause Related Marketing (CRM) proposal is not solely a financial issue, and proposal evaluation criteria have been chosen to reflect the Cancer Council Australia’s strong not-for-profit mission.

In this report, we propose a model which will enable decision makers at Cancer Council Australia to evaluate Licensing and CRM proposals based, not only on financial objectives, but also on the organization's purpose, vision, values and market position. By including non-financial criteria, the evaluation process provides a clear framework for decision-making that reflects both the economic and political realities in which the Cancer Council Australia operates.

The complementary assurance framework identifies critical assurance issues in licensing and CRM and offers a number of practical strategies that will enable the Cancer Council Australia to mitigate the risk of non-payment of royalties. This includes a broad framework of contractual provisions to ensure the licensee is in a sound financial position and remains committed to the partnership.

Assurance Associates have also prepared a short video presentation outlining partner expectations in complying with these assurance practices, which recognizes the value of licence partnerships to the Cancer Council Australia in these difficult economic times and strikes a balance between the operational needs of the licensee and the assurance needs of the licensor.

Consequently, Assurance Associates Australia’s submission includes three pieces of work:

• A formal report detailing the Licensing / CRM Proposal Evaluation Model and the Assurance Framework;

• A PowerPoint presentation summarizing the Proposal Evaluation Model and Assurance Framework; and

• A short video outlining the Cancer Council Australia’s expectations of partners in complying with the Assurance Framework.

It is our intention that this submission represents a practical and constructive framework for licensing and CRM management at Cancer Council Australia.