Partnering to create value 

Interested in fostering innovation, Eurostar has teamed up with the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy to create a new prize for local sustainable transport initiatives.

In principle, Eurostar could have created an infrastructure of its own – promoting the award, going out to find charities, getting some judges together, figuring out criteria, judging entries, creating some kind of award ceremony, getting press coverage of the award.

The Ashden Awards already has all that. By partnering with Ashden, Eurostar has saved itself all the bother of building it all, which (a)leaves more money in the kitty to help the great initiatives it finds and (b)leaves itself more time to help the great initiatives it finds. Plus Eurostar avoids painfully learning all the lessons about how to run an awards programme which Ashden has already learnt in its 11 year history.

“If you want to go far, go together” 

Great donors focus relentlessly on IMPROVING THE WORLD. They use anything and everything which helps with that. So they partner with other donors who know more than they do and share their existing infrastructure. They don’t let themselves get bogged down in the process of finding charities & dishing out money – but rather focus on where they can MOST IMPROVE THE WORLD. Following in the tracks of Warren Buffett’s partnership with Gates which save him building a whole machinery of his own, and Cheryl Cole’s partnership with the Prince’s Trust.

Good giving: all aboard.

*I would say this. It was my idea & me who introduced them!

What will Comic Relief let you do on an aeroplane?–>