# Community Channel launches interactive TV donation service

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2004/08/31/community-channel-launches-interactive-tv-donation-service/
- Published: 2004-08-31T23:00:00+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**You can now press the red button to give to charity via your TV set, now that 
the Community Channel has today launched what it says is the UK’s first 24-hour 
interactive television donation service.**

The Community Channel’s interactive TV giving service is available on Sky 585, and
provides a round-the-clock on-air presence for selected charities to encourage donations
from viewers.

The eight charities involved at launch are British Red Cross, Barnardo’s, Dogs Trust,
Youth Music, National Trust, Wildlife Aid, Spinal Research and Save The Children.

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Sinéad Hughes, the Community Channel’s Interactive TV Editor, responsible for setting
up the service, said:

> “We soft-launched the service in the weeks leading up to September 1st 2004, putting
> up red buttons on-air asking people to donate, request a fact sheet or have their
> say on a programme and we got a fantastic response from viewers.
> “This is the first time that there has been a 24 hour service dedicated to raising
> money for charities on TV and we intend to grow the service over the coming year
> by adding in other fundraising opportunities for charities like mobile ringtones
> and charity shopping.
> “We want to make this kind of opportunity available to all charity organisations,
> regardless of size or resources. The Home Office’s Active Communities Unit has
> funded the project and Sky has donated the capacity to broadcast it, thus enabling
> us to cut the cost of providing an interactive TV fundraising campaign down to
> a tiny fraction of regular commercial costs.”

## Two fee levels

There are two fee levels. Bespoke campaigns are charged at £500 per month, which
includes a branded donation section, interactive TV promos made by and broadcast
on the Channel; charities using this option receive 90% of the donated amounts.

For generic campaigns there is no charge for inclusion on the service, although 
the branding and promos are not included. Charities with generic campaigns receive
85% of the donated amounts.

Both options have an opt-in for Gift Aid and the option to use either credit card
or bank account for one-off or regular donations.

The Community Channel will also red-button-enable existing programmes, films or 
adverts of participating charities and broadcast these to further promote their 
fundraising campaigns, at no extra cost to the charities.

The donation system was designed and built by Sky Interactive. Ben Stimson, Head
of Corporate Responsibility for BSkyB, said:

> “Interactive TV fundraising will revolutionise donating to charity and provide
> access to a wider audience of givers. It is an exciting development for the charity
> sector and allows them to make the most out of the new, innovative technology 
> from Sky. We are always looking at ways to extend our offering to charities – 
> interactive fundraising is another example of Sky leading the way.”

 * **[Community Channel launches](https://fundraising.co.uk/2000/09/17/community-channel-launches/)(
   17 September 2000)
 * **[Community Channel reaches crowdfunding target to become community-owned](https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/07/21/community-channel-reaches-crowdfunding-target-become-community-owned/)(
   21 July 2016)**
 * **[Community Channel broadcasts its corporate Christmas card](https://fundraising.co.uk/2004/12/24/community-channel-broadcasts-its-corporate-christmas-card/)(
   24 December 2004)**