Free will campaign sees millions pledged – & more sector supplier news
Melanie May | 3 May 2024 | News
Octopus Legacy has announced that its spring Free Will Campaign has seen millions pledged for charities, while SATCoL has partnered on a new polyester recycling plant. More on these and other sector supplier news below.
Octopus Legacy’s Free Will Campaign raises £6.9 million in pledges for charity partners
Octopus Legacy hosts its own Charity Free Will Campaign, which crosses over with Free Wills Month, in spring and autumn. During Feb-March this year, Octopus Legacy worked with 65 charity partners, resulting in an estimated £6.9 million pledged to charities so far.
Octopus Legacy’s campaign provides charity partners with a campaign concept, designed tailored assets, and copy to share across their own channels to drive awareness.
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In 2023, Octopus Legacy raised £12.4 million in estimated income for its partnered charities. This Spring, the campaign saw a 236% increase in wills written and increased the estimated amount raised for charities from the previous Spring Campaign by 10.5 times.
It will be hosting its Free Will Charity Campaign again this Autumn (September-October).
New pricing structure from Eventbrite offers 50% discount for eligible not-for-profit organisations
Eligible not-for-profit organisations are being offered 50% off all Pro plans on event marketplace Eventbrite, under a new pricing structure.
From 2021 to 2023, Eventbrite saw a 46% increase in the number of not-for-profits using the platform and during this period, all those active on the platform collectively experienced a 55% boost in gross ticket sales.
Not-for profit Pro plan users – from small grassroots charities through to large organisations – get access to features including the ability to host unlimited events and send a greater volume of marketing emails. There are also built in email and social media marketing tools, along with AI powered tools to help with event setup.
Organisations can check if they’re eligible for the discount by visiting the organisation settings on Eventbrite and under Plan Management verifying their not-for-profit status. Once validated by email a 50% discount will be immediately applied to all Pro plans during checkout.
BBC Children in Need partners with Omaze for latest house draw
The draw will see one person win a five-bedroom home in Dorset worth £2.5 million, plus £100,000 in cash.
Since launching in the UK in 2020, Omaze has raised more than £37mn for charities in the country, including £3.15mn for the NSPCC, £3mn for the British Heart Foundation, £2.95mn for Blood Cancer UK, £4.1mn for Alzheimer’s Research UK, £2.1mn for Marie Curie and £4.5mn for the RSPCA. Omaze has guaranteed BBC Children in Need a minimum donation of at least £1 million and is aiming to raise significantly more.
Money raised by Omaze for BBC Children in Need will go on to fund grants for projects like BIGKID Foundation in Brixton, which uses a grant of £88,661 over three years to provide a programme of youth club activities for young people affected by serious youth violence and local deprivation.
Charity Super.Mkt to open in Glasgow’s Buchanan Galleries
Charity Super.Mkt will open its 17th location with a prime spot inside Glasgow’s Buchanan Galleries in May – a return to the city for Hemingway whose Red or Dead brand occupied a space on the adjoining Buchanan Street in the 1990s.
The opening of the Buchanan Galleries store follows the pre-loved fashion brand taking over the ground floor of the former Fenwick’s building on Bond Street in central London. Other recent Charity Super.Mkt launches have included Manchester, Westgate Oxford and Bluewater in Kent.
To date, 225,000 items of clothing have been sold, raising £2mn for charities including Shelter, Cancer Research, Age UK and TRAID.
SATCoL partners with Project Plan B to open polyester recycling plant
A joint venture between Salvation Army Trading Company (SATCoL) and Project Plan B, known as Project Re:claim, has begun operations in Kettering, Northamptonshire – a commercial-scale, post-consumer polyester recycling plant.
The plant will recycle post-consumer garments and other textiles, and supply the raw material back into the fashion and textiles industries.
The machine was installed in January 2024 and is now fully operational, with polyester pellets being produced from polyester waste. The plant is on track to recycle 2,500 tonnes of unwanted polyester this year, with a further 5,000 tonnes in year two. The polyester pellets can be spun into yarn for use in textiles along with other industrial applications, and are expected to be integrated into the manufacturing processes of new products later this year.
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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.