Alternative Black Friday – the round up
Melanie May | 29 November 2019 | News
It’s Black Friday: the biggest day in the shopping calendar, but it’s also increasingly a good day for charities too. Here’s a selection of some of the alternative Black Friday activity going on today, raising funds for good causes.
We're on a mission to eliminate blinding trachoma – and you can help us get there! Donate before 9 January 2020 and @DFID_UK will double your gift, up to £2 million. With #GivingTuesday coming up, it's the perfect time to make double the difference! https://t.co/cRLyHLsk4S pic.twitter.com/mmIZ47Cvoe
— Sightsavers (@Sightsavers) November 26, 2019
Advertisement
Double your donations to Sightsavers
Sightsavers says it is jumping on the Black Friday-deal bandwagon and offering donors a chance to get a seasonal bargain by getting their donations doubled.
A research poll by Sightsavers found that nearly seven in ten shoppers wait until big events like Black Friday or Cyber Monday before making big purchases, with 73% planning to fork out for something expensive this Black Friday.
Sightsavers’ Director of Global Individual Giving & Marketing, Becki Jupp said:
“As our research has found, Brits love to get extra bang for their buck. I am sure they’ll be thrilled to hear that until 9 January, the UK government is matching all donations made to Sightsavers up to £2 million, so doubling your impact.
“We also learned that the average person plans to donate £47 over the festive period. That’s enough to fund an operation to correct the in-turned eyelashes of someone with the advanced stages of the blinding eye disease, trachoma. A donation before 9 January means Sightsavers can deliver twice as much quality eye care to those who need it.”
£1 for every Black Friday weekend North Face purchase to go to charity
The North Face is donating £1 for every purchase made over Black Friday weekend, and has expanded its initiative to include Germany, Italy and the UK, with funds going to its Explore Fund.
The Explore Fund is designed to create greater access, diversity and equality in the outdoors, helping young people across Europe realise their potential through exploration.
Earlier this year The North Face announced a formal partnership with EOCA (European Outdoor Conservation Alliance) and has funded projects across Europe, including a reforrestation project in Hardknott Forrest, UK, improving alpine biodiversity in the Berchtesgadener Land Biosphere Region, Germany and fighting single use plastic to protect the turtle nesting ecosystem in southern Calabria, Italy.
Just Eat donates 50p from Black Friday orders to FoodCycle
Food delivery app Just Eat has teamed up with FoodCycle to raise money for meals, which will aid the hungry and in need.
Just Eat is donating 50p from every order made on 29 November to support the charity, which runs projects across the country serving meals made from surplus food which would otherwise have gone to waste.
Andrew Kenny, UK Managing Director of Just Eat said:
“Just Eat and FoodCycle are firm believers in the power of food in bringing people together, especially at a time of year which can be difficult for those who are lonely or hungry.
“It’s a great feeling to know that the simple act of ordering the food you love – be it a Greggs vegan sausage roll, ramen, burrito or KFC – will go towards helping those in need.”
Black Friday becomes Food Bank Friday
Black Friday will become ‘Food Bank Friday’ with Ethical Superstore bringing back its annual initiative in partnership with Newcastle West End Foodbank.
For the fifth consecutive year, Ethical Superstore’s week-long alternative to the discount day offers shoppers the chance to make a difference by pledging to donate an item from its stock to Newcastle West End Foodbank with every order over £30 from Monday 25 November until midnight on Monday 2 December. Ethical Superstore is donating essential goods picked out by the foodbank including pasta, sauces, toilet paper, soap and shampoo bars.
Since the initiative began in 2015, almost 12,000 ethical household and grocery products have been donated to the foodbank, with over 4,200 items donated last year worth in excess of £7,000 – the most successful to date.
In addition to the pay it forward initiative, customers will be able to take advantage of 20% off all products for a limited time only during the campaign.
WWF highlights ‘limited stock’ of natural world
In a series of new content releasedin time for Black Friday (29 Nov), WWF is highlighting the ‘limited stock’ of endangered wildlife around the world – including polar bears, pandas and jaguars – with a call to save our species. The charity is asking people to think twice about where they spend this holiday season, and to consider purchases that could have a lasting, positive impact around the world.
Fanny Calder, Director of Campaigns at WWF-UK, said:
“Our throwaway culture is one of the biggest threats to the environment and seasonal events such as Black Friday and Christmas can intensify our unsustainable consumption of the world’s limited resources. This is putting existential pressure on vital nature and wildlife around the world. Fortunately, it’s easier than ever to make a conscious effort choose eco-friendly brands and products, reduce the number of single-use items we buy and be creative with present buying – by opting for experiences over products or picking items that will far beyond the festive season.”
WWF is asking followers to donate and support their work to protect wildlife from threats such as poaching and habitat loss, as well as helping to restore nature here in the UK and abroad. Its Christmas advert, ‘Adopt a Better Future’, focuses on the global challenges facing wildlife as a result of deforestation.
#BuyNothingNew day is back once again! The ethical alternative to #blackfriday. Support our campaign and shop with one of our #reuse members this Friday. Click on the link to find your nearest #reusenetworkmemberhttps://t.co/dn7V7U93ZT pic.twitter.com/q7Jg9tWu7O
— Reuse Network (@reuse_network) November 25, 2019
Buy Nothing New Day – Reuse’s campaign to get people to buy nothing new on Black Friday is back for another year. With UK shoppers expected to spend £8.57 billion across the weekend, it is asking people to imagine if that money was spent in local charity shops instead.
We can't WAIT! BOGO! 👏 👏 👏 Get 1 for you, 1 for a friend at 30% off! PLUS, free shipping & 10% to your fav charity! Get your BOGO CODE now at https://t.co/ImW7Us4Oz6, then shop Nov 29-Dec 2. #BlackFriday – #CyberMonday2019 pic.twitter.com/R4HALl8I1O
— Lolly Dagger (@LollyDagger) November 27, 2019
Lolly Dagger has got a great Black Friday deal – buy one, get one for a friend, with free shipping, and see 10% of the price go to a charity of the customer’s choice.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5VmZhXAXuy/
Geoganics is donating 20% of all purchases made on the day to a charity helping the planet – chosen by its followers from Surfers Against Sewage, Friends of the Earth, Brighton Dolphin Project, and Plastic Oceans.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5TpzuJh5s-/
Alternative wedding photographer Steal the Day Photo will donate £100 from his overall fee to a local charitable cause per booking of any of his wedding photography packages before 22 December.
Some stores are quite clear, inviting customers to boycott Black Friday. If they must buy from then companies like Schuhhaus Walder will donate – 5 Francs in their case to the charity Winterhilfe (Winter Help).
Boycott #BlackFriday! White Friday by Schuhhaus Walder: No rebates making people buy stuff they never need, instead donating 5 Francs for every sold pair of shoes to Winterhilfe, national #NGO. https://t.co/zAl78vw8Cz
— Beatrice Schulter (@BeaSchulter) November 29, 2019
With the #BlackFriday sales starting, remember that if you shop through Amazon Smile then we will receive a donation on eligible items! Head to https://t.co/pxgYvRvTay to get started and pick University Hospitals Birmingham Charity. pic.twitter.com/pG6fCcCcuD
— Heartlands Hospital Charity (@HHospCharity) November 28, 2019
Lots of charities are reminding people that if they shop through AmazonSmile this Black Friday and select them as their chosen cause, Amazon will donate to them.
Raise more than £50 for your good cause when you shop HUGE Black Friday deals and donations from some of our leading mobile, broadband and TV retailers including Sky, Carphone Warehouse, NOW TV and more. https://t.co/KISQdLzO1g pic.twitter.com/x2SEzDMgli
— easyfundraising (@easyuk) November 23, 2019
Easyfundraising has lots of Black Friday offers while a lot of the retailers it works with, including M&S, John Lewis, Argos and Fat Face are doubling their donations.
And, some ethical alternatives to Black Friday deals, as chosen by CAF
Charities Aid Foundation is calling on shoppers to “Ditch the Deals” and go for gifts that support good causes today.
CAF’s Caroline Mallan said:
“We’ve already seen some predictions from consumer experts that Black Friday might not prove as popular this year. Luckily, Giving Tuesday – the day to give back to a good cause – is happening on 3 December. It’s the perfect chance to support a charity and cross those items off your Christmas to-do list at the same time.”
Research indicates that the average Black Friday shopper in Britain will spend over £250.
But for less than £200, CAF suggests instead:
- 120 tins of Brewgooder beer – 100% of the brewer’s profits are committed to bringing clean drinking water to a million people.
For less than £100:
- Give two vulnerable families a couple of goats – milk, meat and a source of long term income via Save the Children.
- The perfume that empowers women in developing countries – Sana Jardin is the world’s first socially conscious luxury fragrance brand. Buying this fragrance will help Sana Jardin to train female jasmine growers around the world, provide them with business training and reducing waste in the production process.
For around £50:
- Build toilets in the developing world – you can pay for a mason to construct a personal toilet for families who need them, via WaterAid.
- Provide support and training for refugees – you could get a cookery class from Migrateful, taught by a refugee, asylum seeker or isolated migrant. This social enterprise offers language and skills training to their chefs, as well as a vital source of income.
For around £20 or less:
- Buy a BuddyBox – a hug in a box – The Blurt Foundation works to increase awareness of depression and offers one-off and monthly deliveries of ingenious self-care boxes of mini-treats, plus a wide array of cheery stationary and gift ideas.
- Give polio vaccines to 100 kids – Unicef offers the chance to buy 100 polio vaccines for children around the world, for just £14.
- A handy tin to keep treats for your dogs – The Dogs Trust is selling this tin for less than £15. You can store treats for your dogs in them whilst also helping the charity to protect thousands of vulnerable animals each year.
- The Marie Curie Bee Free mug– 100% of the profits from this beautiful artist-designed mug go towards providing care for terminally ill people in their own homes.
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.