Great Fundraising Organizations, by Alan Clayton. Book cover.

Four charities rounding up the old pound coins

Howard Lake

Howard Lake | 7 September 2017 | News

With the old round pound coin ceasing to be legal tender on 15 October, charities are working hard to make the most of the opportunity. Here are four charities which are inviting the public to donate their old round pounds.
The Royal Mint and HM Treasury are encouraging the public to bank, spend or donate their round pound coins before next month’s deadline. Not surprisingly many charities have seized this fundraising opportunity to urge their supporters and the public to donate any old pound coins sitting in piggy banks or savings jars.
Online research in May 2017 for The Royal Mint by YouGov found that around 5% of the public will look to donate their saved coins to charity. (The total sample size was 2,007 adults, with figures being weighted so that they are representative of UK adults aged 18 and over).


 

DFID to turn £1 coins into £2

The Department for International Development has supported these initiatives, inviting the UK public to get rid of their old change by donating to a variety of charity appeals, which will be match-funded by UK aid.


 

Four £1 coin campaigns

Charities have had some practice at making the most of the introduction of new currency and removal of old, starting with the #firstfiver and #finalfiver campaigns created by fundraising consultant John Thompson.
Consequently a range of creative approaches have been adopted to the £1 coin opportunity.

Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity

Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity has launched an online campaign ‘Good old pounds’ featuring a short, fun animation asking people to check their sofa, pockets and piggy bank and donate the old pounds they find.


Supporters can also download a ‘make-your-own’ fundraising box from the website, to collect their round coins in or simply make a donation. Just £23 round pounds can pay for an hour of support from a Family Support Worker.
Oonagh Goodman said: “We have promoted the campaign on Twitter and Facebook using #PoundforPound and will continue to do so. The film has been viewed almost 500 times, shared 35 times and reached an audience of 210,000 across Twitter and Facebook.
“Our advice to other organisations is to make your campaign stand out and relevant to your cause. Small acts make a huge difference – the round pounds add up!”

The Stratford Town Trust

The Stratford Town Trust has focused its pound coin appeal on a restoration project for the medieval wall paintings that adorn the Guild Chapel which it manages.
Its ‘Pounds for Panels’ encourages donations to enable the trust to open and restore more panels. It was launched at a talk by the painting conservators Richard Lithgow and Mark Perry.


Pippa Brook, said: “We have had a super response from the public and tourists visiting the Chapel. Children who visited the Chapel were eager to come back with their old coins! We have raised around £750 so far, and have an event planned for the 28th September in line with National Poetry Day which will allow for further promotion.
“Other charities should make the most of the round pound fundraising opportunities. The pound is a perfect amount, it appeals to all as it does not make a massive hole in the wallet!”

Diabetes Research & Wellness Foundation

Diabetes Research used its website, email and social media channels to promote their £1 coin appeal, and set up a JustGiving page for those who wanted to donate £1 online.
Clare Levy, said: “As a result of the campaign, we have received positive reactions from the public and raised almost £100 already! We would advise other charities to make it as easy as possible for people to donate, which encourages people to do so.”

Epilepsy Action

Epilepsy Action’s Pound for Pound initiative encourages people to donate their last pound to help people with epilepsy. This included a text donate number for people to make a £1 donation, home money boxes for people to collect their old round pound coins, and the Epilepsy Action weekly lottery, where a £1 ticket gives you the chance to win £25,000.


Hattie Hodgson-Crome said: “We also created a campaign video, which received over 4,000 views on Facebook! So far, over 600 people have taken campaign actions, whether that’s text donating, buying a wrist band, requesting a home money box or joining Epilepsy Action.
“Our tagline for the campaign is ‘Every £1 coin donated, new or old, will help change lives. Donate yours today and help bring forward the day that no one fears an epilepsy diagnosis’. Our advice to other charities is to be creative in your fundraising initiative – give people ways to turn small change into lasting change.”
 
 

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Howard Lake

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.

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