Corporate Philanthropy Opportunities

Corporate Philanthropy Opportunities

Good Design Needs Good Patrons
A' Design Award & Competition already uses positive price discrimination to keep participation accessible for young designers, students and start-ups, while enterprises, big brands and world brands pay higher nomination fees. Yet for a design student in a developing country, for a young designer who has just graduated, for a young artists, an upstart architect or for a talented creative without a client to fund the entry, even a reduced nomination fee can be the single barrier between a brilliant project and the international recognition it deserves. A' Design Award already supports young designers itself but we can support more with your help. A' Design Award Recognition opens doors to many possibilities; for many of our young laureates, winning the A' Design Award was their first press feature, their first international exhibition, their first client and their first job offer. Through our own initiatives such as Join for Free, the Subsidized Entry Programme and Support During Tough Times we already do what we can and your partnership multiplies what is possible. Good Design is Good Karma, and supporting the people who will design the products, spaces, services and experiences of tomorrow is one of the most meaningful contributions a design-led brand can make.

How it Works

1. Select a Package
   Choose the Patron, Benefactor or Grand Benefactor package below, or contact us for a custom number of Young Designer Grants. Each A' Design Award grant costs 250 € and funds one fully subsidized Digital Edition nomination ticket for one young designer, architect, artists or creator.
   
   
2. Define Your Focus (Optional).
   Tell us whether you wish to support young designers from a specific country or region, in a specific design discipline or category, from partner universities, or around a theme such as sustainability, accessibility or social design. If you prefer, leave your focus open and we allocate the grants worldwide.
   
   
3. We Invite Young Designers.
   A' Design Award announces your grants and invites eligible young designers and design students to register and upload their works to obtain their complimentary preliminary score and presentation feedback. Grant announcements and invitation emails acknowledge your company as the patron who made the grants possible.
   
   
4. Meritocratic Allocation.
   A' Design Award Grants are allocated in descending order of preliminary score, subject to a minimum score threshold, so that the entries you fund have genuine award-winning potential. Companies define the focus, and the A' Design Award selects the grant recipients. Our system is fair, meritocratic and ethical; nobody can be hand-picked, and employees or relatives of your company are not eligible.
   
   
5. Blind Evaluation.
   Funded entries are evaluated anonymously by the Grand Jury Panel exactly like every other entry and jurors do not know which entries are grant-funded. Eligible A' Design Award winners, participating through your grant, receive the complete Digital Edition A' Design Prize without any further fees; grant recipients who do not win still receive their Participants' Certificate and Proof of Creation Document.
   
   
6. Recognition and Reporting.
   After the A' Design Award results are announced, you receive your impact report listing the number of grants, countries, disciplines and outcomes, together with your Philanthropy Partner certificate and trophy. Your support is acknowledged on our website, in our communications and in the press releases of the grant recipients who win.

What Each Contribution Makes Possible
Every single grant funds the complete Digital Edition participation of one young designer. The young designer, artists, creator or architect you support receives:

• Free preliminary score, presentation feedback and consultancy before nomination
• A fully paid Digital Edition nomination to the A' Design Award & Competition
• Anonymous, criteria-based evaluation by the international Grand Jury Panel
• Participants' Certificate and Proof of Creation Document, regardless of the result
• And, if the work wins: the Digital A' Design Prize, which includes but not limited to; A' Design Award Winner Logo with perpetual, worldwide, unlimited license; a dedicated full page in the Digital Yearbook of Best Designs; inclusion in the digital exhibition and in international digital exhibition prospects; winner design and designer pages; press release preparation and distribution; translation of the winning work to 108+ languages; inclusion in designer rankings and world design rankings; exclusive interviews; an article at the Design+Encyclopedia; the Award Recognition Document and Global Design Registry Record, and the many further benefits of the Digital Edition A' Design Prize, with no contractually obligated winner fees.

Why Design-Led Brands Choose Corporate Philanthropy Packages

• Measurable Social Impact:
  With A' Design Award's philanthropic initiatives, you know exactly how many young designers you supported, from which countries and in which disciplines, and what they achieved; every grant is traceable and every result is public.
  
  
• CSR, ESG and DEI Alignment:
  A' Design Award scholarships and grants can be focused on under-represented regions, on women designers and under-represented groups, on students of partner universities or on themes such as sustainability and accessibility, aligning the initiative with your existing corporate social responsibility, ESG and diversity commitments. We kindly note that while you can select a group to support, within the group, allocations would be made meritocratically.
  
  
• Visibility Among Tomorrow's Design Leaders:
  With A' Design Award's philanthropic initiatives, your name reaches thousands of young designers and design students at the moment they receive their first international opportunity; these are the creative directors, founders and decision makers of the next decades. We also communicate to our wider base helping your initiative acknowledged through the design, architecture, creative and innovation communities worldwide.
  
  
• Talent Pipeline:
  With A' Design Award's philanthropic initiatives, you get to know award-winning young designers and architects early, you may invite young creatives to your events, and build relationships with emerging talents before your competitors do.
  
  
• Authentic Storytelling:
  Your grant recipients, their A' Design Award winner works and their stories provide genuine content for your corporate communications, employer branding and internal engagement, far more compelling than conventional advertising or self-promotion.
  
  
• Zero Conflict of Interest:
  Our grant and sponsorship allocation is meritocratic and the A' Design Award judging is based on blind peer-review process where entries are evaluated on publicly available and pre-established evaluation criteria anonymously; your philanthropy cannot influence any result, which is precisely what makes it credible when you communicate it.
  
  
• Effortless Execution:
  A' Design Award handles outreach, marketing, promotion, advertisement, selection, ticket issuance, communication and reporting; your team receives one invoice, one impact report and ready-to-use communication materials.
  
  
• Discounted Entry for Your Own Work:
  A' Design Award Philanthropy Partners are given the opportunity to obtain a 25% discount on their own nomination fees for the same competition period, regardless of the package selected. With your A' Design Award nomination tickets, you can showcase your excellence worldwide.

What do A' Design Award Philanthropy Partners Get?
The A' Design Award offers three Corporate Philanthropy Packages (Patron, Benefactor and Grand Benefactor) with progressively inclusive recognition, allowing you to select the level of support that matches your corporate social responsibility objectives and budget. Each package funds a clearly stated number of young designers and provides a thoughtfully crafted set of recognition, documentation and engagement benefits, in addition to the common benefits to A' Design Award sponsors and partners:

Table 1. A' Design Award's Corporate Philanthropy Packages for Brands and Enterprises
Benefits	Patron	Benefactor	Grand Benefactor
Fully Subsidized Digital Edition Nomination Tickets for Young Designers
No Winner Fees for Grant Recipients
Meritocratic Allocation of Grants by Preliminary Score
Basic Targeting Country, Region or Design Category
Advanced Targeting Universities, Themes, Demographics
Named Grant Programme "Brand Name Young Designer Grants"
Name & Logo on Grant Announcements and Invitation Emails
Name & Logo on Philanthropy Partners Listing
Partner Acknowledgement in Grant Recipients' Winner Press Releases
Unique Page for Partner at A' Award Website
Partnership Press Release Preparation
Partnership Press Release Distribution
Partnership Article at IDNN and DXGN Networks
Shared Partners Ad Totem in the Gala Venue
Shared Partners Ad Totem in the Exhibition Venue
Ad Totem in the Exhibition Venue
Ad Totem in the Gala-Night Venue
Logo and Link at Homepage
Full Page in Results Book about the Partner
Opportunity to Present Young Winners in Award Ceremony
1 Minute Video Message During Award Ceremony
Acknowledgement on Social Networking Platforms
Philanthropy Partner Certificate
Philanthropy Partner Trophy
Copy of the Yearbook(s)
Billing and Invoice for CSR / ESG Documentation
Impact Report after Results Announcement
Extended Impact Report with Winner Case Studies
CSR & Internal Communication Kit (Badge, Templates, Copy)
25% Discount on Your Own Nomination Fees During Same Award and Entry Period
Logo Size	M	L	XL
Young Designer Grants Number of Fully Funded Digital Nominations	100	300	600
Gala-Night Invitations Can be used for Free Professional Edition Upgrade for Select Grant Recipients, allowing them to enjoy further benefits and the complete and grand A' Design Prize.	2	5	10
Availability per Period	12	6	2
Monetary Cost (250 € per Young Designer)	25.000 €	75.000 €	150.000 €
: Optional with Extra Costs, : Included, : Not Included	SUPPORT NOW	SUPPORT NOW	SUPPORT NOW

Patron Philanthropy Package funds 100 Young Designer Grants through A' Design Award, covering the complete participation of one hundred young designers and design students in the A' Design Award & Competition. Your company is recognized as an A' Design Award Philanthropy Partner with medium-sized logo placement on grant announcements, invitation emails and the Philanthropy Partners listing, receives the Philanthropy Partner certificate and trophy, a copy of the yearbook, an impact report after the results, a ready-to-use CSR communication kit and 2 gala-night invitations, in addition to the 25% discount on your own nomination fees for the same period. Patron Philanthropy Package is ideal for: Design-led companies starting a structured philanthropic programme, brands wishing to support a specific country, region or discipline, and corporate foundations seeking a measurable, low-effort initiative with an international footprint.

Benefactor Philanthropy Package funds 300 Young Designer Grants and adds a named grant programme at A' Design Award carrying your brand, advanced targeting including partner universities, themes and demographics, a unique partner page at the A' Design Award website, preparation and distribution of a partnership press release, a full page about your company in the results book, an extended impact report with winner case studies and 5 gala-night invitations, with large-sized logo placement across the philanthropy communications. Benefactor Philanthropy Package is ideal for: Big brands integrating design philanthropy into their ESG and DEI strategies, enterprises that recruit design talent internationally, and organizations that wish to tell a credible, well-documented story of support to the next generation of designers.

Grand Benefactor Philanthropy Package funds 600 Young Designer Grants, enough to support an entire generation of young designers across many countries and disciplines in a single competition period to join the A' Design Award. In addition to everything in the Benefactor package, your company receives extra-large logo placement, a partnership article across the IDNN and DXGN networks, dedicated ad totems at the exhibition and gala-night venues, logo and link at the A' Design Award homepage, the opportunity to present young winners on stage during the award ceremony, a one-minute video message during the ceremony and 10 gala-night invitations. Grand Benefactor Philanthropy Package is ideal for: Global corporations and world brands that wish to be recognized as the leading patrons of young design talent worldwide, and for foundations whose mission is education, creativity and opportunity.

Focus, Naming and Themes for Your Philanthropy
A' Design Award's Corporate Philanthropy Packages can be focused to match your priorities. You may direct your grants to young designers, artists and architects from a specific country, region or continent; to a specific design discipline or award category such as furniture, fashion, architecture, packaging or digital design; to students of universities you already collaborate with; or to a theme that reflects your values such as sustainable design, social design, accessibility and inclusive design. Benefactor and Grand Benefactor partners may name the programme after their brand, for example "Brand Name Young Designer Grants at A' Design Award", and A' Design Award communicates the programme under this name throughout the period. Whatever the focus, A' Design Award keeps full authority over the selection of recipients, which is what keeps the programme meritocratic, credible and valuable for everyone involved.

Integrity of our Philanthropy Programme
Your grants are allocated by A' Design Award in descending order of preliminary score among eligible young designers who match the agreed focus; partner companies cannot nominate, pick or veto individual recipients, and employees, contractors and immediate family members of the partner company are not eligible to receive grants. Each young designer may receive one grant per competition period. Grant-funded entries are evaluated through the same anonymous, criteria-based blind peer-review process as all other entries, and jurors are never informed which entries are funded. Not every grant recipient will win the A' Design Award; this is precisely what makes the awards won by your grant recipients meaningful. Should fewer eligible young designers qualify within the period than the number of grants in your package, the unallocated grants are carried over to the following competition period at no additional cost, and your impact report notes this transparently, when there are unallocated grants, we will provide you an opportunity to provide and distribute the nomination tickets to your network as well.

Philanthropy Reporting and Documentation
A' Design Award & Competition issues a full invoice for your Corporate Philanthropy Package and provides the Philanthropy Partner certificate, the Philanthropy Partner trophy and, after the results are announced on May 1st, an impact report documenting the number of grants allocated, the countries and disciplines of the recipients, the number of award-winning entries by award level, and links to the public winner pages arrive June 15th. Benefactor and Grand Benefactor partners additionally receive an extended report with case studies of winning grant recipients, suitable for annual reports and ESG disclosures in December 15th. Many companies account for Corporate Philanthropy Packages as corporate social responsibility, sponsorship or marketing expenditure; the applicable treatment depends on your jurisdiction and we kindly ask you to consult your own advisors.

25% Discount on Your Own Nominations
Companies participating in the A' Design Award's philanthropic initiative are given the opportunity to obtain a 25% discount on their own nomination fees, regardless of the philanthropy package selected, for the competition period in which they undertake the initiative. Your A' Design Award participation and nomination ticket discount is activated for your account by our team once your package is confirmed, applies to the nomination fees of your own entries and cannot be combined with other promotional discounts. Your entries are evaluated with the same blind process as everybody else; supporting young designers does not influence your results, it simply makes your participation more affordable while you do good. Learn more at Support Designers.

Custom Contributions and Bespoke Philanthropy Packages
If none of the A' Design Award Corporate Philanthropy Packages fits your budget or ambition, you may fund any number of Young Designer Grants starting from 20 young designers (5.000 €) at 250 € per grant; custom contributions receive the recognition benefits of the package tier they reach or exceed. Design associations, foundations, family offices and individual philanthropists are equally welcome; please contact us to arrange a custom contribution and the related invoicing.

Combine with A' Design Award Metal Sponsorship
A' Design Award Corporate Philanthropy Packages focus on supporting young designers and are therefore distinct from our Metal Sponsorship packages, which focus on brand visibility across the entire competition. The two can be combined; A' Design Award Philanthropy Partners who also wish to become A' Design Award Metal Sponsors within the same period are offered preferential conditions, and Metal Sponsors are encouraged to convert their complimentary nomination tickets into Young Designer Grants, exactly as suggested in our Metal Sponsorship documentation. Please contact us for combined proposals.

How to Apply?
Application is online, please pay for one of the packages above and afterwards get in touch with us using our simple form. A dedicated concierge will be assigned to your company to agree the focus, the naming, the logo files and the announcement date, to activate your 25% nomination discount and to deliver your reporting. Companies may also contact us before payment to receive a short proposal letter for internal approval. In general, we approve applications from all industries except for gambling, tobacco and weapons.

Also See:
• Different Sponsorship Types.
• Metal Sponsorship options and benefits.
• Subsidized Entry Programme, where young designers learn about available grants.
• Support Designers and the 25% discount for Philanthropy Partners.
• Common Benefits for all A' Design Award sponsors and partners.