Sponsorship policy

Partnerships Policy

1.    Purpose

1.1.    The Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) seeks to build supportive long-term sponsorship relationships with commercial organisations and other partners to support costs or generate a surplus for activities that deliver the work and fulfil the charitable objects of the College.

1.2.    The RCR is willing to consider sponsorship from any organisation or individual (except as defined below) in the UK or internationally that wishes to support its work and values, on the understanding that such a sponsor agrees to work with the RCR in accordance with this policy and/or its expression in our Partnerships Charter.

2.    Key principles

2.1.    The RCR defines sponsorship as an arrangement with industry, a company or organization, or individual that provides financial support to the RCR in exchange for value-neutral acknowledgement that neither endorses nor identifies a sponsor's products or services.

2.2.    The RCR will consider each sponsorship proposal on a case-by-case basis to ensure that the College only works with organisations that are aligned with its aims, values and charitable status, and that acceptance of sponsorship or commercial support does not compromise these or the RCR’s reputation. 

2.3.    The RCR will make every effort to attract a wide range of sponsors for the various activities undertaken by the College so that there is no dependence on any one source of external income. Sponsorship arrangements for activities run jointly with other organisations will be as consistent as practicable with this policy.

2.4.    The independence of the RCR should not be affected by any collaboration and all arrangements should ensure that the RCR retains control of all activities or materials. Any content produced by the RCR must remain wholly independent and unbiased.

2.5.    The RCR will not endorse or promote services or products in return for a donation. A donation will not influence the work of the RCR or the activities of those undertaking work on behalf of the RCR. 

2.6.    Activities organised using the RCR name and/or logo and/or materials bearing the RCR logo must be used in accordance with the RCR’s Endorsement policy and its policy for the use of the RCR name and logo by external parties. This principle also applies to the RCR’s acknowledgement of a sponsoring organisation.

2.7.    All sponsorship and partnerships must be clearly labelled / acknowledged; partner involvement in RCR activities must be clearly identified.

2.8.    Awards given or presented regularly may be named after a particular topic, or where sponsorship or a donation has supported the award to be made, an individual person or commercial partner. In some cases, the title of an award will not bear the name of any partner or individual, but supporters will be acknowledged in an appropriate fashion.  The title of any award and the rules/terms of the award must be agreed in advance by the RCR, and stated publicly.

2.9.    Where content is provided to the RCR by a third party it must be educational and relevant to our members.

2.10.    Any data can only be shared in line with the GDPR. This means we must be transparent with our. members if their data is being shared with a third party and we must have their consent. 

2.11.    The RCR database of Fellows and members will not be made available to any sponsoring body or individual.

2.12.    Any individuals involved in RCR activity must explicitly give a full declaration of interests  regarding their direct involvement or association with commercial organisations.

2.13.    In line with the RCR investment policy, no sponsorship or advertising will knowingly be accepted from any company whose principal purpose is in gambling, adult entertainment, tobacco, armaments or in extraction and production of thermal coal and tar sands. 

At the time this policy was last updated, the most common RCR activity garnering sponsorship is events of various types: see full details in the Appendix. Guiding principles of sponsorship for other activities e.g. e-learning resources, publications (listed in section 3) can be found in the RCR’s Partnerships Charter: Partnerships_Charter_v1.0.docx 

3.    Eligible Activities

The RCR is in principle open to sponsorship of activities that are consistent with its charitable objectives, support its strategy and do not conflict with the principles set out in section 2 of this policy and the Partnerships Charter. Eligible activities include but are not limited to:

  3.1 Events, symposiums, round tables, training, conferences (including in person, online and hybrid formats)

3.2    Content featured on the RCR E-Learning Hub 

3.3    Selected publications and selected mailpack / advertising within these

3.4    Event listings 

3.5    Selected RCR emails (sponsored content inclusion)

3.6    Selected social media 

3.7    Awards

3.8    Research Projects

The principal pages on the website will not be sponsored and the website will not carry display advertising for products/services. Information about sponsors is acceptable as long as aligned with the relevant area sponsored: this does not affect appropriate sponsor acknowledgement for support of a specific activity, for example on a dedicated event webpage. 

Where applicable, detailed guidelines relating to the areas of activity are provided in Appendix 1.

4. Agreements

4.1 Initial approaches to or from potential sponsors or advertisers, and the negotiation of terms, will be undertaken only by relevant staff. Officers of the RCR and on some occasions other members and Fellows who hold RCR roles will provide support and input according to this policy and guidance from the staff to whom they have delegated this responsibility.

 4.2 Any sponsorship arrangements must be underpinned by a written agreement, which for straightforward and limited circumstances can be a letter. The arrangements must be compliant with this policy and in particular:

4.2.1 Have a clear scope and application and stipulate any exclusions 4.2.2 Be for a defined period with clear terms of notice for both parties 4.2.3 Safeguard the RCR’s name and/or logo and any intellectual property rights

4.2.4 Ensure that the agreement represents a fair deal for the RCR 4.2.5 Include a regular monitoring and review process (as relevant)

4.3 All parties to any arrangement will commit to the RCR’s confidentiality requirements at all times including following the Data Protection Act 2018, as relevant to contractual activities.

 

5. Governance

The RCR follows an assessment of risk according to the following criteria, producing a red, amber or green rating for each sponsorship opportunity: 

• Partner organization (length of relationship, financial history, alignment with financial policy) 
• Value of deal 
• Reputational risk to the RCR 
• Member benefit

Based on the outcome of the assessment, a sponsorship arrangement can be agreed at the following levels and in line with the Financial Scheme of Delegation:  •    Green – Head of Business Development: RCR Learning / Head of RCR Learning •    Amber – Executive Director Education and Professional Practice / CEO •    Red – CEO / relevant Vice President / President

  Appendix 1 – guidelines relating to activities

1.    Events 

The following guidelines apply to sponsorship of RCR events across in person, online and hybrid formats. 

1.1.    Funding from commercial organisations may be accepted to cover the costs of event features such as exhibition stands, event materials and for inserts in delegate packs.

1.2.    Where lectures are named after the sponsoring body, the final control of the topic and the choice of speaker or Fellow must remain with the RCR.

1.3.    Income from commercial organisations may be used to fund the costs of securing overseas speakers at events e.g. travel and accommodation costs. Where the RCR is booking travel as part of event coordination, the RCR’s Expenses Policy shall apply.

1.4.    Income from sponsorship and/or advertising for a particular event may be solely or predominantly for hospitality or social events if it is proportionate, is not provided primarily for Officers or staff, and will further the interests of the RCR.

1.5.    Gifts and promotional items on exhibitors’ stands must comply with the policies and recommendations of Association of Healthcare Technology Providers for Imaging, Radiotherapy & Care (AXREM), the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) and the Association of British Health Tech Industries (ABHI).

1.6.    Speakers at RCR meetings are required to declare any conflicting interests prior to each relevant session they are speaking in. Speakers will be provided with the College’s Conflict of Interest policy and asked to notify the organisers if they think they may have a conflict of interest.

1.7.    The presence of commercial exhibitors at RCR events must not dominate the event. 

1.8.    Acknowledgement of exhibition/event sponsors should appear appropriately and in accordance with this policy within the programme. This may include a small profile and logo on dedicated event pages within the College website.

1.9.    Sponsorship arrangements for events run jointly with other organisations will be as consistent as practicable with this policy.

2.    Further principles for RCR Conferences RCR conferences have further scope for sponsorship due to their size and potential for a larger exhibition space and increased commercial interest.

2.1.    Sponsorship of additional elements of the event such as the conference app, roundtable, meeting guide, delegate bag or workstation hire will be considered

2.2.    Acknowledgement of event sponsors will appear in the event guide/programme/website with prominence given to those which have bought higher value packages

2.3.    The ‘headline’ sponsor/s or equivalent will be offered branding on signage throughout the conference

2.4.    The RCR will consider proposals from sponsors to run symposiums or workshops. The content of these sessions would be agreed in advance by relevant organising committee.

3.    Research

3.1.    Commercial funding must not affect the outcome or the dissemination of the outcome of any research. The research will be under the full control of the investigator who must be able to publish results, including results which might be construed as negative by the sponsoring organisation, without being blocked by the sponsor.

3.2.    Individual products may not be promoted by the researcher, team or by the company supporting the research.

4.    Acknowledgements

4.1.    Proportionate acknowledgement will be given in return for sponsorship support. For example, appropriate acknowledgement of the source of sponsorship may appear on the registration and promotional webpage of any sponsored meeting or activity. The RCR will acknowledge where funding has been contributed towards an activity, normally by way of a textual comment such as ‘The RCR acknowledges the generous support of [partner] in the production of this event/activity/material etc’. Other than as specifically agreed in the context of support for an eventand in accordance with this policy, the RCR will not normally agree to a prominent textual acknowledgement or to the inclusion of a sponsor’s logo. Individual products and brands must never be referred to in acknowledgement statements.

4.2.    Multiple sponsors will usually be listed in alphabetical order to avoid any inference that the first listed has given the greatest level of funding. 

  5.    RCR publications

5.1.    This section covers all materials produced by the RCR with specific reference to RCR journals, standards and guidance documents, research projects and the RCR website.

5.2.    Any content produced by the RCR must remain wholly independent and unbiased and should not be subject to any sponsorship arrangements. However, the outputs and methods of distribution may be funded by sponsorship.

5.3.    Commercial advertising may not be used to support the publication or distribution of guidance on good practice, or consensus statements such as clinical guidelines.

5.4.    Commercial organisations may advertise in RCR journals. The level of such advertising should be determined in accordance with the arrangements agreed with the publisher and if appropriate, the Editor.

5.5.    The website will not carry inappropriate product advertising. Information about sponsors of RCR activities is acceptable, in accordance with this policy.

5.6.    In specific and agreed circumstances, the RCR may seek sponsorship for functional areas of the College website. It is understood that occasions may arise where support from a single sponsor of a specific area of the College website may occur. Special caution must be taken to ensure that in instances when such support is granted, no perception of conflict of interest exists and that acknowledgement of the support is reflected appropriately. All approaches will be judged on their merits on a case-by-case basis. Where electronic versions of sponsored materials appear on the website, the original sponsor may be credited.

5.7.    Links to sponsored educational sites are permitted but there should be no direct link to commercial sponsors other than as an agreed sponsorship package for an RCR meeting.

5.8.    Authors of RCR publications must declare any personal interest or association with organisations relevant to the subject of the publication or article in accordance with The Royal College of Radiologists’ Conflict of Interest policy.

5.9.    There are separate RCR arrangements for the production, funding and listing of contributors’ details for publications produced jointly with other bodies.

5.10.    Endorsement of guidelines and/or material produced wholly by other bodies is subject to the RCR Endorsement policy.

5.11.    Sponsorship from organisations that would have no direct gain from association with the RCR (such as a retail chain) may be used to produce and facilitate the distribution of information for the general public, teaching packages, publications, lectures and online learning resources.

Last reviewed: January 2024 Next review: January 2025