Supporter
For organisations that want to be seen backing local talent.
Get in touch
Backs the season — no challenge of your own
- Logo on the programme and event materials
- A seat on the judging panel
- The participant shortlist after the event
Sponsorship & partnership
Put your problem in front of the room
A contained, time-boxed challenge on your own problem class — with a decision gate before anything repeats or scales. Sponsoring is for organisations and buys agreed benefits. Patronage is for individuals and is a gift.
01 — What you receive
A cohort, a method, and a brand moment
Every sponsored challenge produces the same five things, whatever the domain.
- 01
A talent cohort
Up to 100 participants from data, AI and STEM backgrounds, observed on a real problem, with a post-event shortlist.
- 02
Fresh approaches
New thinking on your own problem class, from people with no stake in how it has always been done.
- 03
Knowledge capture
Practitioner scenarios structured as reusable training material, challenge data and a knowledge layer.
- 04
Co-branded output
Thought-leadership on the themes you already market, published through Innovation Forum channels.
- 05
A decision gate
Outcomes measured against agreed value measures, with a scale or no-scale recommendation.
02 — The tiers
Three ways in — or none of them
Every package is shaped around the problem you bring, so there's no price list. Pick the tier that sounds like you and we'll come back with a scope and a figure.
Tick one or more to see which tier covers it.
The tier that covers everything you picked
Get in touch aboutRecommended
Partner
For a team with a real problem class it wants worked on.
Get in touch
One challenge on your problem, run in full
- Everything in Supporter
- Problem-owner role — the challenge is built on your problem class
- Challenge design, facilitation, data preparation and tooling
- A physical finale — venue and hospitality
- Your practitioners as mentors on the floor
- First look at internship candidates
- A co-branded write-up
Not ready to commit a budget? Start lean: the same challenge run virtual-first on open data only, to prove the format on your problem class first.
Get in touchHeadline
For an organisation that wants its name on the challenge.
Get in touch
The complete event, named for you
- Everything in Partner
- A named challenge
- The knowledge-capture output as a reusable asset
- A youth-talent pathway from challenge to internship
- An option on a second event
In-kind only is a route on its own. Mentors, judges, datasets or a venue — and "no cash this time" is still a viable pilot. Offer something in kind.
03 — Sponsorship or patronage
Two ways in, and they are not the same thing
Individuals back the programme as patrons instead — a gift rather than a commercial arrangement, and treated differently for tax on both sides.
You are hereOrganisationsSponsorshipA commercial arrangement. You fund a challenge and receive identifiable benefits in return.IndividualsPatronageA gift, freely given. You back the programme and receive nothing commercial in return.
| Aspect | Sponsorship | Patronage |
|---|---|---|
| Who it is for | Organisations — companies, firms, institutions. | Individuals giving in a personal capacity. |
| What it is | A commercial arrangement, with benefits agreed in advance. | A gift. Nothing is supplied in return for it. |
| What you receive | Your logo on the programme and event materials, a seat on the judging panel, the participant shortlist, and — at higher tiers — a named challenge built on your own problem class. | Your name in the list of supporters, if you would like it there. Nothing else, and that is the point. |
| Influence over the event | Substantial at Partner and Headline: the challenge is designed around a problem class you nominate. | None. Patrons do not shape challenges, judge, or see the shortlist. |
| VAT | Within the scope of VAT — you are receiving a supply. Any amount agreed is exclusive of any VAT that may apply. | Outside the scope of VAT, because nothing is supplied in return. Naming a supporter is specifically permitted by HMRC and does not change this. |
| Your own tax position | Normally an allowable business expense as advertising or promotion. Your accountant should confirm it for your circumstances. | No tax relief of any kind. Innovation Forum is not a registered charity, so there is no Gift Aid and no charitable deduction. |
| Hackathon places | No advantage. Places stay free and open to everyone. | No advantage. Places stay free and open to everyone. |
Why the line falls where it does
The difference is not the amount. It is whether anything comes back. HMRC treats a payment as sponsorship as soon as the payer receives an identifiable benefit — a logo on the programme, a named event, priority booking, hospitality — and that makes it a supply, with VAT in scope. A gift that secures nothing in return sits outside the scope of VAT entirely.
Naming a supporter in a list is specifically allowed and does not cross that line. A logo would. That is the whole reason patron recognition is a name and stops there — not modesty, but the thing that keeps a gift a gift.
Before you give
Global Innovation Forum Limited is a private company limited by guarantee (company number 10010132). It is not a registered charity, so patron gifts do not qualify for Gift Aid and attract no charitable tax relief. If tax relief matters to how you give, we would rather you knew that before you gave than after.
04 — The business case
Less than one agency fee, and you get a cohort
Recruitment agencies commonly charge a fee of a fifth or more of first-year salary for a single specialist hire. A sponsored challenge yields a vetted cohort, a working knowledge-capture method, fresh thinking on your problem class, and a brand moment.
05 — What we need from you
Three decisions, then we build it
- Step 1
Confirm the problem statement
One problem class, stated plainly enough that a mixed team can act on it in a day.
- Step 2
Name a problem owner and mentors
An owner, plus two to four practitioners to mentor and judge.
- Step 3
Choose a tier — or in-kind only
Cash, in-kind, or a mix. "No cash this time" is still a viable pilot.
Bring us a problem worth a day’s work.
Tell us the problem class, and we will come back with a challenge design, a value-measure sheet and a date.
Or email info@inno-forum.co.uk
Partners, sponsors and supporters of previous Innovation Forum events
