The TSC Alliance, a non-partisan nonprofit organization, will enter into corporate relationships for the sole purpose of providing mission related benefits to the TSC community. In some cases, activities that fulfill our mission cannot be accomplished alone and require collaboration and alliances. Therefore, the TSC Alliance seeks appropriate and meaningful collaborations with corporations and others. The TSC Alliance will not accept any corporate donation or enter into any corporate relationship that would create a conflict of interest, or even its appearance, with the TSC Alliance’s mission, sound science, or board-approved policies. All procedures and formal agreements with corporate donors will be designed to prevent any undue influence upon the TSC Alliance.
The TSC Alliance will perform appropriate and adequate due diligence, with respect to all corporate donors, to ensure that the company’s activities, affiliations and business practices do not compromise the TSC Alliance’s mission.
The need arises, therefore, for TSC Alliance to establish guidelines that help take full advantage of opportunities for corporate engagement, but that also serve as safeguards against any possible negative impact that corporate relationships might have on TSC Alliance’s public image and integrity, whether real or perceived. In order to ensure that all corporate donations are in alignment with the TSC Alliance’s mission and are always for the sole benefit of the TSC community, the TSC Alliance’s Board of Directors has approved the following guidelines and principles in regard to corporate support.
Types of Corporate Support
- Financial and/or in-kind support in the form of grants and/or sponsorships for educational and communications vehicles, i.e., conferences, social media, videos, podcasts, publications and Community Alliance initiatives.
- Financial and/or in-kind support in the form of grants and/or sponsorships for fundraising purposes.
- Strategic alliances that provide improved services for constituents.
- Cause-related marketing.
- Health message promotion.
- Financial grants and/or professional support for clinical trials and research.
- Contract agreements for TSC Alliance preclinical and clinical research membership and testing.
Criteria for Evaluating Corporate Relationships
- Independence: TSC Alliance exercises independent judgment in all its decision making and in the implementation of any agreed upon activities related to the corporate relationship.
- Mission-related benefit: The relationship provides a meaningful mission-related benefit to the general public or particular constituencies of TSC Alliance.
- Consistency: The relationship is consistent with TSC Alliance principles, public positions, policies, and standards.
- Adherence: The relationship adheres to all applicable state and local laws and regulations.
- Non-deceptive communications: All materials from the corporation or TSC Alliance directed to the public will contain accurate and non-deceptive terms or statements such that a reasonable person will understand the nature and extent of the corporate relationship. Specific monetary amounts need not be reported except where a purchase by a consumer causes a donation to be made to TSC Alliance, in which case TSC Alliance will disclose the amount or percentage of money from the sale which will actually go to the organization, the duration of the campaign (e.g., the month of October), and any maximum or guaranteed minimum contribution amount (e.g., up to a maximum of $200,000).
- Endorsements: TSC Alliance will not endorse any other corporation’s product, service or program. The Board of Directors has the authority to make exceptions on an individual basis.
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- TSC Alliance will not lend its name to license products, services or programs of other organizations.
- TSC Alliance will not recognize or certify the quality or standards of a particular company, including its products and services.
- TSC Alliance name and logo should not be associated with a specific branded product of an external company. The Board of Directors has the authority to make exceptions.
- References to the TSC Alliance website, phone number and address for the purposes of referral information are an exception to the above.
- Certifications: Certifications may only be issued by TSC Alliance once a particular product or service of a company complies with or satisfies an applicable or relevant standard of the organization. Exclusive certifications should be avoided unless they: (i) are limited to a particular activity for a specified time period; (ii) provide meaningful benefit to TSC Alliance and the public; and (iii) do not prohibit TSC Alliance from engaging in different types of activities with competing corporations and/or products.
- Privacy: TSC Alliance has written guidelines that protect the privacy of people participating in corporate-sponsored activities and/or programs.
- Compliance: TSC Alliance has a mechanism to assure compliance with its corporate relations policy by regional alliances.
- Balance: TSC Alliance evaluates on an annual basis the total amount of corporate support received as a percentage of total revenue.
Written Agreements
TSC Alliance will execute a written agreement with the corporation for any activity in which TSC Alliance is obligated to meet any terms or conditions. The written agreement must clearly indicate:
- the amount of money that will be transferred to TSC Alliance;
- whether the payment is unrestricted or earmarked to support a particular event or program activity;
- a written description of the mission-driven activity being supported that both parties will agree to use for purposes of disclosure to the general public;
- the manner in which the TSC Alliance will disclose the support to the general public;
- that TSC Alliance retains complete control of and right of approval over all content related to the event or program activity; and
- whether, and if so, how TSC Alliance’s name, logo and/or any identifying marks will be used by the corporation in relation to their support of a particular event or activity;
- that the TSC Alliance reserves the right to terminate the agreement if actions by the corporation is not in aligned with TSC Alliance policies and procedures.
General Principles
- TSC Alliance will not endorse any corporation or product (exceptions made on a case-by-case basis with approval from Board of Directors) nor will it allow a corporation’s interest to factor into its decision-making process. All sponsorships or unrestricted educational grants received by the TSC Alliance will acknowledge and recognize the contributing corporate donor, not the company’s product (i.e., specific drug).
- In exchange for contributions, the TSC Alliance will allow standard recognition to include, but not be limited to, items such as signage, social media and acknowledgement in TSC Alliance publications. Additional types of recognition will be considered on a case-by-case basis, based on the type of funding or opportunity presented.
- TSC Alliance will not accept grants that may adversely affect its nonprofit status.
- Revenue generated through corporations will be used to advance the mission of the TSC Alliance in accordance with the strategic plan.
- The TSC Alliance will maintain control of the development and implementation of all content and materials related to educational conferences, and all research and clinical trials conducted by the TSC Alliance.
- Corporations providing sponsorships for advocacy and research conferences or symposia will not influence conference content or selection of speakers.
- TSC Alliance will maintain control and discretion over all corporate funds received and will ensure compliance with related grant or sponsorship agreements.
Disclosure
TSC Alliance will, unless otherwise prohibited by law, disclose financial support it receives as a result of corporate relationships.
TSC Alliance will disclose amounts received from corporations identified on Schedule B of its Form 990 (more than the greater of $5,000 or 2% of the total amount of contributions reported on line 1 h of Part VIII of Form 990 (2008)).
TSC Alliance will publish the disclosure information in a format easily accessible to the public in our annual report within six months of the close of the fiscal year. The disclosure information will include name of the corporation and the total amount of support provided by that corporation in ranges, e.g., $0 – $50,000; $50,001 – $100,000, etc.
Originally adopted January 7, 2009
Revised and approved as by the Executive Committee October 24, 2025