Ethical Sponsorship Guidelines

1. Purpose

These guidelines define the ethical standards that govern sponsorship relationships on the CFH platform during Phase 1 (sports clubs). They exist to protect the integrity of participating clubs, ensure CFH remains a trusted platform, and reflect the realities of the NZ sports club sponsorship landscape.

These guidelines replace the previous version, which was written for a schools and PTA context. That version is no longer applicable.

2. Phase 1 Context — Why Sports Clubs Have Different Standards

CFH recognises that the sponsorship landscape for community sports clubs differs meaningfully from schools:

• Sports clubs regularly receive support from local breweries, hospitality businesses, and gaming trusts — these are established, normalised funding relationships in the NZ community sport sector
• Major NZ community funders including the Lion Foundation and Pub Charity are themselves connected to gaming and liquor — applying blanket prohibitions in this context would be inconsistent and impractical
• Adult members and committees make decisions on behalf of clubs; the commercial context is fundamentally different from a school environment

Schools will be governed by a separate, stricter set of guidelines when CFH enters Phase 2. Alcohol, gambling, and other conditional categories will not be permitted for school-facing campaigns under any circumstances.

3. How Sponsorship Works on CFH

CFH operates a club-led outreach model. This is important for understanding how these guidelines apply in practice:

• CFH provides each club with an AI-generated list of suggested local businesses and a suite of outreach templates
• Clubs make all approaches to businesses themselves — CFH does not contact businesses directly on behalf of clubs
• Businesses are not required to submit an application or be formally vetted by CFH before a club approaches them
• These guidelines function as upfront guidance given to clubs — defining which categories of business are appropriate to approach through CFH, and which are not
• Clubs retain the right to decline any business they feel is not aligned with their own values, regardless of whether CFH's guidelines permit that category

The AI business list CFH generates will be filtered in line with these guidelines — prohibited categories will not appear on the list. However, clubs may also approach businesses from their own network; in those cases, clubs should apply these guidelines in good faith.

4. Approved Business Categories

The following business types are appropriate for clubs to approach through the CFH platform:

5. Conditional Categories

5.1 Alcohol

Alcohol businesses may be approached for sports club campaigns, subject to the following conditions:

• The club's campaign is not targeted at, or primarily composed of, under-18 members. A senior football club with a junior section may use CFH for its senior campaign but should not direct alcohol sponsorship toward junior-specific fundraising
• All sponsorship messaging must comply with New Zealand's Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 and the Advertising Standards Authority's codes for alcohol advertising
• Alcohol sponsors must not use their sponsorship to promote excessive consumption or target vulnerable individuals
• CFH will include alcohol businesses on the AI business list for clubs where the primary membership is adult. Clubs with predominantly junior membership should use their own judgment and may opt to exclude this category

5.2 Gambling

Gaming trusts and gambling-adjacent businesses may be approached, subject to similar conditions:

• TAB, gaming lounges (non-casino), Lotto retailers, and gaming machine operators are common sponsors in the NZ community sport sector and are approved under these guidelines for adult-membership clubs
• Sponsorship messaging must not promote gambling as a solution to financial difficulty or target vulnerable individuals
• Clubs with predominantly junior membership should not actively seek gambling business sponsorships, though acceptance of gaming trust grants (e.g. from the Lion Foundation or Pub Charity) is a separate matter and is not governed by these guidelines

6. Prohibited Categories — Absolute

The following categories are prohibited regardless of club type, campaign context, or business reputation. These are never appropriate on the CFH platform:

7. Club Responsibilities

By participating in the CFH platform, clubs agree to:

• Apply these guidelines in good faith when approaching businesses from their own network
• Not use CFH's outreach templates to approach businesses in prohibited categories
• Exercise their own judgment on conditional categories, taking into account their membership composition
• Inform CFH if they become aware of concerns about a sponsor that may reflect negatively on the club or CFH
• Ensure that any sponsor recognition (social posts, naming rights, signage) does not promote harmful products or messaging to their members

8. CFH Responsibilities

CFH commits to:

• Filtering the AI business list to exclude prohibited categories before providing it to clubs
• Applying conditional category logic to the AI list — alcohol and gambling businesses will only appear on lists for clubs where the primary membership profile is adult
• Reviewing these guidelines on a scheduled basis and updating them as the platform evolves, particularly on commencement of the schools phase
• Responding promptly if a club or third party raises a concern about a sponsor relationship on the platform

9. Raising a Concern

If a club, business, or community member has concerns about a sponsorship relationship on the CFH platform:

• Contact CFH at hello@cfh.org.nz with a brief description of the concern and the club/business involved
• CFH will acknowledge the concern within 3 business days and investigate
• If CFH determines that a sponsorship relationship breaches these guidelines, CFH will notify the club and request that the relationship be discontinued through the platform. The club is not obligated to end the relationship entirely — only to remove CFH's facilitation of it
• CFH will not make public statements about individual sponsor concerns without the affected club's knowledge

10. Schools Phase (Future — Phase 2)

When CFH extends to schools, a separate Ethical Sponsorship Guidelines document will apply. The schools version will be materially stricter:

• Alcohol: not permitted under any circumstances
• Gambling: not permitted under any circumstances
• Food and beverage: additional restrictions on categories inconsistent with school nutrition policies
• All businesses will be subject to a more formal review process before being added to school-facing AI business lists

Clubs operating under Phase 1 guidelines should be aware that the platform will operate differently in a school context.