12 corporate fundraising partnerships to kick off February 2019
Melanie May | 1 February 2019 | News
Here is a selection of the charity partnerships announced by a range of businesses in the past month, from Coffee#1’s first national charity partnership with Samaritans, to Gala Bingo’s extension of its partnership with 52 Lives.
Coffee#1 & Samaritans
Samaritans has become Coffee#1’s first national charity partner. Coffee#1 announced the launch of the partnership to coincide with Brew Monday (21 January) with shops displaying a range of promotional materials, including green gingerbread men.
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Staff will also offer customers the option to donate £1, and over the next two years Coffee#1 aim to raise £100k for Samaritans through various staff fundraising events and public donations.
Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Surgeons Quarter, & Bowel Cancer UK
The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and its commercial arm, Surgeons Quarter, are collectively partnering with Bowel Cancer UK to raise funds for the charity’s Improving Surgery, Saving Lives fundraising campaign. In a yearlong partnership, Surgeons Quarter and the RCSEd aim to raise £50,000. The College and Bowel Cancer UK are raising £430,000 to create Scotland’s first Colorectal Cancer Surgical Research Chair.
Surgeons Quarter manages hotel Ten Hill Place, and during 2019, Ten Hill Place asks guests if they would like to make a donation when paying at its drinks and dining restaurant or adding to their bill at the end of their stay. The wider network of RCSEd and Surgeons Quarter will also fundraise through themed evenings, sponsored events, bake sales, dress down days, sky dives, spinathons and more.
McCarthy & Stone & Beanstalk
McCarthy & Stone have chosen Beanstalk as its 2019 charity partner, to help improve the outcomes for children who struggle with reading while promoting the wellbeing benefits of intergenerational volunteering.
The partnership will aim to raise at least £100,000 during the year to help support Beanstalk’s reading support programmes and will actively seek to engage McCarthy and Stone homeowners and staff from across the UK in volunteering to directly support disadvantaged children in their local communities.
SPAR & Marie Curie
SPAR’s fundraising efforts for Marie Curie have passed the £1 million mark. SPAR stores began fundraising in March 2017 and have now reached this milestone, equivalent to paying for 50,000 hours of care from Marie Curie Nurses.
In March 2017, SPAR stores supported the Great Daffodil Appeal, hosting collection boxes and encouraging customers to donate. SPAR continued its support of the Great Daffodil Appeal in 2018, as well as other annual fundraisers including the Blooming Great Tea Party.
SPAR stores also fundraised through the sales of its sandwich ranges, including the Christmas sandwich selection, with a donation from each sale going to the charity. SPAR staff members also organised fundraisers across the country, including cycle rides in Cornwall, Ben Nevis treks, ‘Go Yellow’ days and hosting hundreds of tea parties throughout the UK.
Blakemore Retail SPAR store & NSPCC
Staff at Blakemore Retail SPAR stores raised over £200k for NSPCC during the latter half of 2018. Jumping out of planes, running up skyscrapers and cycling across the country are all things Blakemore Retail employees can now tick off their fundraising hit-list. The funds will be used to support the NSPCC’s ‘Speak out. Stay safe’ service.
Other fundraising events run by Blakemore Retail employees included Halloween, a Battle of the Bakes competition, Christmas-themed fancy dress days and Sparkle Day. In-store activities in December alone raised £59,380 for the charity.
Blakemore Retail has now raised more than £3 million over the last ten plus years for the charity.
Principality Building Society, Teenage Cancer Trust Cymru & Alzheimer’s Society Cymru
Principality Building Society is to support Teenage Cancer Trust Cymru, and Alzheimer’s Society Cymru until the end of 2021. Colleagues at Principality’s 53 branches and 17 agencies will take on a range of challenges over the next three years to raise vital funds for them. In the past this has included mountain treks, half marathons, cycle event and bucket collections at Principality Stadium.
Gala Bingo & 52 Lives
Gala Bingo is extending its partnership with 52 Lives for a further two years. GalaBingo.com first partnered with the charity in 2016 and pledged to donate a minimum of £52,000 to the charity per year but has so far raised £218,818. GalaBingo.com has raised funds by hosting 52 Lives charity games every day at 7:30pm, with an additional three on Sunday nights. Anybody over the age of 18 can play, with tickets costing 25p or less. 100% of the profits from these games go to the charity, alongside additional player donations.
The South of England Agricultural Society & Jamie’s Farm
The South of England Agricultural Society has announced that its 2019 Charity of the Year is Jamie’s Farm. It was the idea of new 2019 Society President, Sir Richard Kleinwort, to support the fourth Jamie’s Farm, which is due to open in Lewes in Spring 2019.
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Marsh & Parsons & Anthony Nolan
On Monday 4 February London estate agent Marsh & Parsons is set to launch its first ever corporate partnership – with Anthony Nolan.
Marsh & Parsons’ brand campaign ‘Matching people and property’, chimes with Anthony Nolan’s mission to find people with blood cancers or blood disorders a lifesaving ‘match’.
The campaign will include team fundraising, and a series of creative billboards to be displayed on the London Underground. Marsh & Parsons aims to raise £25,000 by spearheading corporate and individual fundraising initiatives including encouraging its employees to take part in sporting activities such as Anthony Nolan’s Walking Together and Prudential Ride London, as well as fun team activities like inter-office sporting tournaments, sweepstakes and quizzes.
Mattress Online & Crisis
Crisis has received a donation of over £2000 from mattress and beds retailer Mattress Online. The donation, which totals £2496.18, is being made following a campaign undertaken towards the end of 2018, where the retailer set aside £1 from every order received over a two week period in December 2018.
In addition to this, Mattress Online’s staff also contributed to the grand total, with a Bake Sale being held at the retailer’s headquarters.
Santander & Alzheimer’s Society
Santander has selected Alzheimer’s Society as its new national charity partner for 2019-2021. One thousand Santander staff from across the UK voted in the selection process.
The partnership’s focus will be to improve financial inclusion and help those within the community who may struggle to cope with new technology, as well as organising fundraising activities and volunteering. Santander aims to become the best digital dementia friendly bank in the UK.
Burns Pet Nutrition & 3 charities
Burns Pet Nutrition has announced that it will this year support three charities as part of its ongoing Charity of the Year Programme. Blue Cross, Yorkshire Cat Rescue and GalwaySPCA have all been selected to receive a year’s worth of financial assistance and food amounting to more than £100k in value. The three charities were chosen following an application and interview process which saw over 25 animal welfare organisations apply.
The collaboration marks the fourth consecutive year that Burns has run its Charity of the Year Programme. Last year Burns business owner John Burns donated £1m to charity to mark its 25th anniversary. In addition to financial support, Blue Cross will receive food at five of its rescue centres: Bromsgrove, Lewknor, Southampton, Burford and Tiverton.
- Focus: corporate fundraising (24 September 2021)
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.