The benefits of corporate fundraising

GSK and Save the Children. Fairy Liquid and Make-A-Wish Foundation. Innocent Smoothies and Age UK.

These are just three examples of successful corporate fundraising partnerships where charities and businesses join forces to raise awareness and money for a cause.

If you haven’t considered partnering with a business, you should, as it can be extremely rewarding.

Take the partnership between Innocent Smoothies and Age UK. Innocent has raised a staggering £ 3 million for the charity since 2005, by donating 25p from the sale of every bottle with a knitted hat. That’s a huge amount for very little work on the charity’s part.

However, funding isn’t the only advantage of corporate fundraising. You and your corporate partner will benefit from positive PR and heightened brand awareness.

Corporate Fundraising in action

Corporate fundraising takes many forms, from matched giving (where a company matches the amount employees raise through their own fundraising initiatives) to employee volunteering.

Let’s have a look at a few examples:

Staff fundraising events

Some employers like to raise money by organising their own fundraising events. P&O Cruises raised an impressive £300,000 for Teenage Cancer Trust between 2015 and 2020 by organising a series of activities, such as foreign coin collections and summer fetes.

Members of the P&O team also ran the London and Edinburgh Marathons to raise money.

At least half of the £300,000 was raised through P&O’s ‘Trek the Deck’ challenge - a 5km walk around the ship’s deck. Guests donated £10 to enter and received a co-branded t-shirt on completion.

Donating profits

Some companies donate a percentage of their profits to charity.

For example, British spring water brand, Thirsty Planet donates a fixed amount from every bottle of water sold to Pump Aid, a charity that provides cost-effective, sustainable clean water solutions throughout Africa.

Checkout collections

There’s a long-standing tradition of retailers requesting donations on behalf of charities at the point of sale (before the world went digital, it was done via a donation box on the till).

Today, it’s more common to make a digital donation at the online checkout.

Take trade tool retailer Screwfix. They prompt online shoppers to round up their purchase to the nearest pound, with the extra pennies going to charity.

Employee volunteering

Some companies choose to support charities by offering employees time rather than cash.

Employees at XPO Logistics help families in need each Christmas by delivering more than seven tonnes of food to 35 food banks.

Over 8,700 employees support the initiative.

Selling merchandise

Some retailers support causes by selling charity merchandise through their outlets.

A prime example? Sainsbury’s supports Comic Relief and The Royal British Legion each year by selling red noses and poppies.

Common pitfalls

While corporate fundraising partnerships can pay dividends for both parties, without the right preparation, they can be riddled with problems.

Here are a few potential pitfalls to consider.

Ethical conflicts

Companies that operate in controversial industries will sometimes enter into charity partnerships to ‘whitewash’ their activities.

There’s a fine line between a company being socially responsible and cynically trying to improve its reputation through association.

Misaligned expectations

With multiple stakeholders on each side of the partnership, it’s easy for expectations to diverge. The best way to avoid this is a written agreement. Even if it’s a loose partnership, create a short ‘memorandum of understanding’ so everyone is on the same page.

Getting it right

Corporate fundraising is a complicated, long-term strategy that takes years to master. This is why you need a top-notch corporate fundraiser on board to ensure things run smoothly.

Enter Bamboo.

Specialists in fundraising recruitment, we can help you find an experienced Corporate Fundraiser to ensure you get the most out of the partnership.

Call us on 0203 750 3111 to talk tactics. 

Food for Thought: Three fantastic Christmas charity campaigns

From the highly anticipated John Lewis adverts to the Coca-Cola truck tour campaign, advertising is as much a part of the holiday season as a good glass of mulled wine.

But Christmas ad campaigns aren’t just for huge corporations – they’re an invaluable tool in the fundraising kit.

Why? The season of goodwill accounts for nearly 30% of charitable donations according to the Network for Good. So, Christmas is a prime time to make an ask.

There are loads of amazing campaigns we could mention to inspire you, but, for the sake of time, we’ve whittled it down to three of our favourites from 2021.

1. One Step Closer to Home

GOSH’s festive campaign is a heart-wrenching, 60-second animated film about 4-year-old Henry, a GOSH patient with a rare cardio condition.

We follow Henry as he travels from GOSH to his home in East Yorkshire, for a short Christmas break.

On the way home, we see him collect a series of magical stockings that represent donations from real-life GOSH charity supporters, such as 100-year-old Ivy, who climbed 100,000 metres to support the children’s charity.

With each magical stocking Henry receives, he grows taller, until he finally makes it home to be with his family to celebrate Christmas.

The real Henry may not have been given any magical stockings, but the donations from generous people like Ivy helped get him home for Christmas.

Check out the ad here: Great Ormond Street Hospital

2. This Christmas, let's make Santa's list the only list children care about

This campaign is more sombre but equally emotive.

The advert starts with a young girl writing a letter to Santa. But instead of asking for a PS5 or a Paw Patrol playset, she writes, ‘Dear Santa, I just want to stop feeling sad.’

Simple but poignant, the video highlights the fact that thousands of children are stuck on lengthy waiting lists for physical and psychological support.

The link between Santa’s list and waiting lists inspired thousands of donations.

A powerful message that was cleverly executed by Scottish charity, Children 1st.

Watch it here: Children 1st

3. The Good Fire

This campaign from anti-homelessness charity, Shelter is a little different to the others in that it’s not just encouraging people to donate. It also provides them with a unique way to do so.

To donate, all viewers need to do is watch The Good Fire - a ten-hour YouTube video of a roaring fireplace, ‘that provides real heat to those forced into homelessness’.

You don’t need to watch the whole ten hours to raise money though. YouTube videos generate ad revenue based on the number of views they get. So even if you watch it for a minute, Shelter will benefit.

This is an inspired example of tech for good, and it could well be the start of a movement.

Watch the ad here: The Good Fire Launch Film

Looking for a fundraiser to develop your Christmas campaign? Call us on 0203 750 3111 to get started.

Four ways social media can turbocharge your fundraising campaigns

Social media is an indispensable tool for fundraisers. Why? Because 70% of the UK population is signed up to one or more social platforms. And, according to the Giving Report, 29% of those people consider social media to be the communication tool that most inspires giving.

This means social media isn’t a nice-to-have for your fundraising campaigns. It’s a must-have.

So, how can you use it to turbocharge your fundraising?

Here are four suggestions to get you started:

1. Add a donation button to your social media pages

If you haven’t done so already, add a ‘donate’ button to your social media page. It’ll give people a quick and easy way to donate. If you consider that 55% of people who engage with non-profits on social media end up taking some sort of action (i.e. make a donation), it’s a no-brainer.

How to add a donate button to your Facebook Page:

Click on your charity’s Facebook page

Step 1: Go to your charity's Facebook Page (must be Page admin).

Step 2: Select + Add a button from your Page header, or if you already have a CTA button, hover over it and click Edit.

Step 3: Select Donate through Facebook to let people donate directly through Facebook (you'll need to sign up for Facebook Payments).

Step 4: Click Finish. Using the Donate button to collect donations directly through Facebook is currently only available to charities on-boarded to Facebook Payments.

2. Launch a challenge 

The Ice Bucket Challenge. No makeup selfie. Movember. These are just three examples of challenges that set social media alight and raised precious pennies and awareness for charities.

The most famous is undoubtedly the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

First, it’s worth noting that the challenge wasn’t initiated by the charity. It was started by Patrick Quinn and Pete Frates (two US-based ALS sufferers) to draw awareness to the condition.

They posted videos of themselves doing the challenge in the summer of 2014 and before long, they’d gone viral.

Millions of people, including the likes of Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and George Bush poured buckets of ice-cold water over their heads in the name of charity – resulting in donations of more than $115 million for the little-known charity.

Think outside the box

While there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to replicate the success of the Ice Bucket Challenge, a challenge is a simple and cost-effective way to draw attention to your cause.

What can you do to get your charity on the digital map?

3. Take advantage of live streaming

A growing number of brands are using live streaming to connect with audiences.

British social media publisher, the Lad Bible, runs a live stream once a week. They cover all sorts of random things from legendary Welsh crooner Tom Jones talking about the biggest moments of his career, to advice on how to maintain an amazing moustache.

Believe it or not, they amassed 149,000 views with this Last Lolly Standing stream.

But it’s not just commercial brands adopting live streaming. Charities are doing it too. For example, bereavement charity Sue Ryder held a live Q&A with a world-renowned running coach ahead of the London marathon, and the RNLI hosted a live Q&A with lifeboat volunteers – although it was cut short by a call out!

What can you livestream?

While we wouldn’t recommend live streaming lollies melting, there are loads of things you can do to engage with donors, such as:

• Take viewers on a tour of your office/facilities

• Interview staff, trustees, and volunteers

• A fundraising event (with behind-the-scenes footage)

4. Collaborate with Influencers

Influencer marketing is essentially an individual with a significant social media following promoting your products or services.

An example of this type of marketing is the British exercise clothing company Gym Shark. Since launching in 2012, they’ve shunned traditional marketing methods in favour of using social media influencers to promote their products.

Within seven years, the company was worth over £100 million. So, they’re doing something right.

While influencer marketing can’t be directly applied to charity fundraising, elements of it can. Using celebrity ambassadors to promote your campaign is a surefire way to get eyeballs on your page, drive engagement, and increase donations.

One charity that embraces this form of marketing is mental health charity, MIND.

During lockdown, they published a video of their ambassador Stephen Fry talking about the effect COVID-19 was having on people’s mental health on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

The video was watched and shared by thousands, bringing attention to the topical subject of mental health and the work of MIND.

Final Thoughts

The beauty of social media is its reach (Facebook alone has 44.84 million users in the UK), its low cost (in fact it’s free, unless you decide to go down the paid advertising route) and it’s easy to use.

If you want to promote a fundraising post on social media, give us a call to talk tactics today on 0203 750 3111.