Independent Supporter

An Independent Supporter Badge is a way for companies to show their support for our mission to rid the world’s oceans of plastic in a verifiable way. After donating, you can apply for an Independent Supporter Badge with a unique identification number and the year in which your organization donated.

As ridding the world’s oceans of plastic is a huge goal, we greatly appreciate any and all support we receive. However, as a technology and research non-profit, we must be careful how our donors activate their support of The Ocean Cleanup, ensuring that donations to The Ocean Cleanup are not used as part of an organization’s sales strategy. To do so, we have developed the following communications guidelines. Please use these guidelines when communicating about your independent support of The Ocean Cleanup. To help you develop a suitable message, we have developed an Independent Supporter communication template that adheres to our communications guidelines. This communication template will be shared when an Independent Supporter badge is issued. You may only communicate about your donation – monetary or in-kind – to The Ocean Cleanup once it has been made (or in the case of a supplier, a contract has been signed.)

• Any communication about the donation must only be made within the context of your organization’s ESG goals, and not in the context of product or marketing communications
• Any donation – monetary or in-kind – to The Ocean Cleanup should not be directly tied to the sale of a product in external communications
• In product communications – for example, on your website and social media – there can be no explicit mention of The Ocean Cleanup. Equally, The Ocean Cleanup’s name, nor any of its branding, can be used on your packaging, advertising, or promotional material
• Any/all proposed communication about the donations must be sent to The Ocean Cleanup for review
• As a supporter or supplier, you are not entitled to suggest that you are in partnership with The Ocean Cleanup. It must be made clear to your customers that you are independent of, and not endorsed or sponsored by, The Ocean Cleanup
• The Ocean Cleanup logo is not available for external use.

We will assess each Independent Supporter Badge request on a case-by-case basis. Independent Supporters are organizations that have made a monetary donation of at least €5.000, however, we expect the donation to be appropriate given the size and revenue of the organization. While we are immensely grateful for all the support we receive, as each badge request is assessed individually, we currently do not have the resources to offer an Independent Supporter Badge for donations smaller than €5.000. Donations under €5.000 can be communicated internally only. If you are interested in a multi-year or global partnership, please reach out via our contact form to discuss the possibilities.

Independent Supporter donations go toward The Ocean Cleanup’s activities as a whole and are not used to fund specific activities. For more information, check out our annual reports on our Foundation Details page.

Badge applications are assessed on a case by case basis. In addition to ensuring the contribution amount is appropriate to the size and revenue of the organization, an assessment is also made to ensure that applicants are aligned with the mission of The Ocean Cleanup, and that the contribution is representative of a wider set of sustainability goals and initiatives.

• You are entitled to make 1x press release or 1x social media post announcing your donation as an independent supporter of the mission. The text is subject to approval by The Ocean Cleanup and must adhere to the Independent Supporter communications guidelines. To help you develop a suitable message, we have developed an Independent Supporter communication template that adheres to our communications guidelines. This communication template will be shared when an Independent Supporter badge is issued.
  • The donation must already be made to The Ocean Cleanup and cannot be a donation directly tied to the sale of a product.
• You can use supporting images, which are available in our media gallery here.

Official Supporters have given substantial monetary and in-kind support to The Ocean Cleanup. For more information, please reach out via our contact form.

The badge will show the year in which you donated. There is no expiry date, but you will not be reissued a badge for the following year unless an additional donation is made.

As an independent supporter, you can use the Independent Supporter Badge on your website or social media channels. Independent Supporter communication guidelines apply to this badge (no use on product pages or in print, for example); however, you will be able to include it on your website, as long as you do not use it as part of the sales strategy. If you would like to include a message with your Independent Supporter Badge, we have developed an Independent Supporter communication template that adheres to our communications guidelines. This communication template will be shared when an Independent Supporter badge is issued.

We aim to issue all Independent Supporter Badges within five workdays. Currently, all badges are issued manually, so we ask for your patience as we create each one.

We do not offer customizations of the Independent Supporter Badge. This ensures consistency among our Independent Supporters and offers them the same entitlement. Each badge will include The Ocean Cleanup logo and have a unique identification number that can be used to verify your donation. Any alterations made to the badge will render it void.

The Independent Supporter Badge is a way for organizations to demonstrate the validity of their donation to The Ocean Cleanup. If an individual wants to confirm the validity of the donation, they can reach out via our contact form, stating their business name and identification number. The Ocean Cleanup will verify the validity of the identification number and provide the organization name associated with the donation. The Ocean Cleanup will not share the value of the contribution made to The Ocean Cleanup.

We are currently only providing Independent Supporter Badges to organizations. As each badge request is assessed individually, we currently do not have the resources to offer the Independent Supporter Badge to individuals. However, we do not exclude the possibility in the future.