ACU Sponsorship and Donations
The ACU Sponsorship and Donations program strengthens ACU’s mission to responsibly serve the community it operates in. With this objective in mind, the credit union has proposed a number of requirements to all applicant organizations that are eligible for support from ACU.
Donations
We invest a portion of our profits back to the local community through our donations. It is our dividend to society. Our donations have for the most part, a social purpose.
Sponsorship
When honoring sponsorships, it is important for the ACU to look after the interests of our society as well as those of the credit union. We consider sponsorships to be a symbol of a lasting cooperation, which fits our strategic choices. We see it as two parties beneficially serving each other. We can provide you with facilities, manpower, knowledge or financial support. We therefore expect an adequate exertion in return.
The application
You can submit your request by filling out the sponsorship and donation form. We advise you to read the terms and conditions carefully to learn all of the requirements. We will then see whether your application is eligible for a contribution. If so, we will check if your application falls under the sponsorships or donations program. Forms that are not fully completed will not be considered. You will receive a response within four weeks.
Rules
The ACU only sponsors or donates to initiatives that are in line with ACU’s own mission to serve the community. The applicant organization must be of good character and conduct a responsible financial policy. The applicant organization must also have a strict neutral policy regarding religious and political matters. ACU does not wish to be associated with any religious or political movement.
ACU contributes directly to the organizing or executive body, and not to an intermediary person or organization. Profit entities are not eligible for financial aid.
Furthermore, the following rules apply to all sponsorship – donation requests:
- An applicant can receive a donation only once a year.
- The request must be clearly justified.
- Applications relating to financial support, for example an event are handed in on time. For sponsorships this is 3 months in advance and donations 4 weeks beforehand.
In addition, the following applications are not accepted:
- Applications with a commercial and political objective.
- Requests by individuals or private initiatives.
- Applications for new construction, renovation or restoration.
- Applications for risky, dangerous or environmentally harmful events.
- Applications with a predominantly individual character.
- Applications for the benefit of goals that lie abroad.
- Requests for structural support and/or contributing to exploitation costs.
- Requests to absolve bank charges.
What projects are eligible?
It is not possible to make a complete list of all the initiatives that are eligible for support. The ACU wishes to be associated within the following areas: safety, health, environment, education, art & culture, volunteering for the benefit of the community, and so on.
The ACU prefers temporary projects; due to ACU’s policies, multiannual projects do not fit in ACU’s annual budget approval. It is therefore wise to submit projects early on.
The region
In principle, ACU funds projects in all locations that have ACU branches. Therefore in Curacao, BES islands, Aruba and St. Maarten.
The consideration
ACU sponsorships are not non-committal. The agreed output, which must be proportional to ACU’s contribution, must be agreed upon in writing. Other financial institutions are also allowed to support the project.
The above is a general overview of all criteria used by the ACU. The cooperative chooses which of the many applications it is going to support. Take into consideration that even projects who meet all criteria may be rejected.
Application Guidelines
Stick to the following guidelines when sending in a request for a donation or sponsorship. All applications should include:
- A description of the organization and its goals.
- A project description and the date when the project is going to take place.
- A budget for all costs and benefits.
- Indication of the number of people directly involved and the size / composition of the target group.
Procedure for Approval or Rejection
- All applications are reviewed by the Sponsorship and Donations Committee that looks at the applications for Curacao, BES, Aruba and St. Maarten.
- The Sponsorship and Donations Committee consists of the Finance Manager, Sales & Services Manager and the Education & Community Engagement Manager.
- This committee evaluates all sponsorship and donation requests every four weeks. The Secretariat of the Donation committee is part of the Education & Community Engagement Department.
- All requests will be answered in writing within seven days of the decision of the committee. The decision of the committee is final.
- Even if a proposal meets all of ACU’s criteria, it can still be rejected. The ACU decides autonomously whether or not to honor a request and the amount it wishes to contribute with.
- The motives behind the decision to approve or reject a project will not be disclosed.