Applications for the 2025 Charity of the Year Partnership are now closed!
Our partnership
What's expected?
- Work with us to explore innovative fundraising ideas. Previously, we have hosted silent auctions and 'Light it Up' competitions, and we look forward to discovering new and creative ideas together.
- Nominate a speaker on behalf of your charity for the gala dinner and provide up to six staff members to assist with the event. These staff members usually wear charity t-shirts to promote the organisation.
- Free supporters stand at all relevant BIA events.
- You will be assigned a dedicated relationship manager, available at any time to assist with any questions you may have.
- Potential to host a BIA Away Day – a chance for the BIA staff to learn more about what your charity does and increase connections between our organisations.
- BIA will champion medical research during policy discussions at all levels.
- A handover conversation at the end of the year: the good, the bad and the ugly!
What's encouraged?
- Free of charge attendance and networking at our events. Key events include our Gala Dinner, Committee Summit, Parliament Day and all networking and thought leadership events. There will also be opportunities to speak at some events.
- Hosting a webinar to promote the research you’re doing to tackle your charitable mission. Our events team can coordinate and market the webinar for you. We hold monthly webinars and can work with you to find a suitable time. If you’re working with a BIA member, we encourage you to present together to show the links and strengths of a unified sector. However, this isn’t compulsory and won’t affect your application.
- Receive BIA memer benefits. This includes promotion within Newscast (our weekly newsletter), publishing your jobs, news and events on our website, as well as social media mentions. After the first year, you will have the opporunity to continue the relationships you have built over the past year by becoming a paid BIA member.
What are the unexpected benefits?
Previous Charities of the Year have:
- received forewarning to when key policy documents of interest will be released
- extended their reach through the networks made at our events, being invited to present at industry conferences
- made the most of their attendance at and connections with BIA advisory commitees, expanding their knowledge on priority topics. For example, translation via our Science and Innovation Advisory Committee (SIAC).
Tips and tricks!
- Consider where this relationship best sits within your organisation.
- The value of this partnership is in its policy and research base (rather than purely as a fundraising activity).
- Think about how to best engage with your internal teams from the beginning; having them on board early will make for your best proposal and will mean you get the most out of our year.
2025 dates
- Anytime: Register to attend any of the BIA events and get to know our team and the work we're doing in the sector. Our events are across the year and throughout the UK.
- 1 August 2024: Opening date for applications
- 31 August 2024: Closing date for applications
- early October 2024: Applicants to be advised of the outcome and initial kick-off meeting between partners
- October - November 2024: Charity of the Year planning for 2025
- December 2024: Official announcement of successful 2025 Charity of the Year, Gala dinner planning meetings, handover with 2024 charity partner
- January - December 2025: Activities as discussed over the previous months
Application criteria
The charity must:
- be based in the UK
- be actively supporting an area of medical research of interest to at least one of the BIA’s corporate members
- not have received support from the BIA in the past five years
- be properly constituted and compliant with all areas of charity law (for example, filing of proper accounts on time)
- be/or become a member of the Association of Medical Research (AMRC)
- explain how much you have spent on biomedical research in the UK in the last three years (% of overall income/wealth)
- propose a speaker for the dinner (usually a patient advocate)
Please also submit a brief proposal detailing how a year-long partnership with the BIA will accelerate the development of research and development in the charity’s chosen disease field.
Working with the BIA has helped set the agenda for a long-lasting strategic partnership. Introductions to BIA members have enabled us to gain a mutual understanding of our joint aims and priorities and will help elevate the kidney patient voice in early and in translational research. And the good news is, it won’t end there; we are just at the start of a productive and collaborative future with the BIA and its members. Kidney patients should see the benefits of these developments in years to come.
Previous charity partnerships
Over the year we’ve developed close relationships with the leading biotechs working in ovarian cancer, and we are privileged that we have been given this opportunity to create new connections and learn more about this field. We know these connections will help to accelerate our work to improve outcomes for women affected by ovarian cancer and ensure new treatments are developed quickly to reach patients as soon as possible. Reflecting over the last year, our partnership with the BIA has not only helped to raise money towards vital research to help more women survive ovarian cancer, but has opened doors to maximise the impact of our research over the next five years. We are so grateful for this experience and we look forward to continuing a relationship with BIA and its members. Together, we can work towards a future where every woman survives ovarian cancer.
We were delighted to work with the BioIndustry Association during 2017. As a result of our partnership, we were able to boost knowledge about dementia drug discovery through a dedicated webinar on the subject and to speak to new audiences about dementia research and access to future treatments at a number of important events, including the BIA Forum. The BIA also invited Alzheimer’s Research UK to be part of its annual Parliament Day, helping us to share insights with policymakers about the impact of government policy on dementia research as well as shared messages on current life sciences issues. Crucially, the BIA raised an incredible £44,188 to help power dementia research – enough to fund an entire Pilot Project to test innovative new research ideas. Support like this is crucial in our efforts to bring about the first life-changing treatment for dementia, and we can’t thank the BIA enough for giving us their backing.
On behalf of the Bowel Cancer UK team, thank you to everyone in the BIA community for embracing us so warmly and making this partnership such a success. As the Senior Corporate Partnerships Officer for Bowel Cancer UK, I’ve had the great privilege to get to work alongside your brilliant organisation. I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved together. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed being part of the membership this year and have had the pleasure of meeting so many of you, hearing about your work and exploring ways we can work together.
Celebrating the challenge winners at BIA Summer Party
Action for Medical Research at BIA's Gala Dinner
Parkinson's UK at BIA's Gala Dinner
Ride London 2022 for 850 challenge
Get to know us
- Come along to our events, learn more about the BIA, meet our team and our members
- Read our policy priorities to discover where we can strategically align and find out about our advisory committees and communities
- Take a look at our membership directory - who's working in your therapeutic area?
Please note, that we reserve the right to support more than one charity and to give different opportunities for profile-raising. Proposals will be judged against the criteria above and, ultimately, the choice of the Charity of the Year will be that of the BIA’s Chief Executive.