Swap2aMillion aims to raise
Howard Lake | 28 May 2013 | News
Swap2aMillion aims to raise up to £100,000 for the Multiple Sclerosis Society by swapping one item for a more valuable one. Founder Dan Dempsey thinks it might take up to around 25 swaps to achieve this over around 180 days.
He started with a small silver bar worth about £10 and has already progressed to a Mazda MX-5 sports car via a Mondeo.
People can make offers to swap; after Dempsey receives 10 offers he chooses the best one. He aims to move up to items, such as a boat, a larger boat, a house, a house in a more valuable area, and so on, perhaps to several smaller houses. It all depends on what he is offered.
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Familiar idea?
If you think you have come across this before, you might be thinking of Kyle McDonald and his One Red Paper Clip idea, which he eventually traded up to a house. This was for his benefit rather than a charity, but Dempsey plans to use it, improve on it and raise funds for charity.
Dempsey's Swap2aMillion model includes incentives: he is offering £10,000 for each person with whom he successfully swaps, plus a sum to be shared between those who successfully promote his initiative. (Disclosure: UK Fundraising has signed up to take part in this). Of course, the sums are payable depending on how much he actually raises. If he doesn't reach the £1 million sum, he will share the same percentage that he planned, but that would of course involve a smaller amount per person.
The site has just secured sponsorship from The Swap Room.
UK Fundraising spoke to Dempsey yesterday to find out more.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.