# Standard Chartered donates $6 million in challenge to blindness charity

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2004/11/05/standard-chartered-donates-6m-challenge-blindness-charity/
- Published: 2004-11-05T00:00:00+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

International bank Standard Chartered has inspired a major collaboration by blindness
charities by challenging them to implement a massive campaign which the bank would
fund to the tune of $6 million.
Earlier this year Standard Chartered’s chief executive
Mervyn Davies challenged Sight Savers International to restore over the next three
years the sight of 1 million people suffering from avoidable blindness. If it could,
then the bank would provide the funding to do so. The charity was given two weeks
to respond.

Sight Savers quickly secured agreement from five other related charities, and the
Seeing is Believing partnership was eventually sealed.

Sight Savers already had a link with Standard Chartered as it had been the company’s
chosen charity for its 150th anniversary year in 2003. But this partnership is on
a much bigger scale, and is a more detailed commercial partnership. Indeed, a business
plan was drawn up by consultants from McKinsey, donating their services.

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