# Online charity Christmas card venture to donate 51% of cover price

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2007/07/08/online-charity-christmas-card-venture-donate-51-cover-price/
- Published: 2007-07-08T23:00:00+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

A new online charity Christmas card venture launching at the Institute of Fundraising
Convention today (stand 20) is committed to passing 51% of the sale price to charities,
compared to a typical 10%, or less, from cards sold through high street retailers.

Studio51 lets charity supporters buy their Christmas cards online, complete with
the charity’s message. The venture has been set up by greetings card specialist 
Alan Hawkes, who ran greetings card company Paper Rose until it was sold earlier
this year, and is a former vice-president of the Greetings Card Association.

With 25 years’ experience in the greetings card industry, Hawkes explained the need
for the new service. He said of the industry: “They’re just not giving enough. Charities
get around £10-15 million a year and that is just plain disappointing when more 
than £350 million a year is currently spent on charity Christmas cards in the UK.
But the internet has now made it possible to re-write the rules and direct the funds
directly to the charity.”
Hawkes believes that Studio51 will be particularly attractive
to any charity that, for whatever reason, does not have access to its own Christmas
card retailing operation. Equally it could fit well with charities that have existing
Christmas card arrangements.

He has ensured that the money raised will be delivered to the charities: 51% of 
the sale price is paid into a protected trust account, so this money is not held
by Studio51. The trust account pays accrued income to the charity every three months.

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He added: “With the advent of Internet shopping and Studio51, I feel I can do what
I wasn’t able to do throughout the past 25 years – and that’s make sure charities
receive a bigger slice of sales of charity Christmas cards.”

The Studio51 website goes live on 1 August 2007. The company has already applied
for corporate membership of the Institute of Fundraising and membership of the Fundraising
Standards Board.

 * **[First charity Christmas card catalogue of 2007 is…](https://fundraising.co.uk/2007/08/08/first-charity-christmas-card-catalogue-2007/)**(
   8 August 2007)
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   22 August 2007)
 * **[Swap Christmas cards for virtual choir, Crisis urges companies](https://fundraising.co.uk/2007/09/12/swap-christmas-cards-virtual-choir-crisis-urges-companies/)**(
   12 September 2007)