Lidl lets customers vote on £500k for local charities
Howard Lake | 17 September 2026 | News
Lidl is giving customers the power to decide how £500,000 of charitable funding is distributed across local communities, with the causes selected according to levels of need in each area.
From 24 September, shoppers will be able to vote via the Lidl Plus app for one of five charities shortlisted in their region. Voting will run for two weeks, after which the app will reveal the results and celebrate the winning causes in each community.
How the funding is allocated
Every shortlisted charity will receive a donation, regardless of where it finishes. The winner in each region will receive £10,000, with £5,000 for second place, £3,000 for third and £1,000 each for fourth and fifth. The five causes in each region have been identified using Neighbourly’s Pulse tool, cross-referenced against local deprivation data. Lidl is the first retailer to use Pulse in this way.
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Building on existing community investment
The initiative adds to £2.8 million in community investment that Lidl has donated since 2020, and follows the supermarket’s rollout of Pennies microdonations at the till in January 2025.
Louise Weise, chief customer officer at Lidl GB, said the scheme puts “the power of giving directly into the hands of our customers”, and that working with Neighbourly to identify local need meant the fund would make “a targeted, meaningful difference to communities across the country”.
Steve Butterworth, chief executive of Neighbourly, said local charities were “facing unprecedented demand”, and that Lidl’s regional approach ensured funding was “directed precisely where it is needed most, based on localised insights and deprivation data”.
Charities interested in being considered for future grants or surplus food donations through Neighbourly can sign up via the Neighbourly website. The opportunity is open to charities in England, Scotland, and Wales.
- Lidl becomes first national supermarket to introduce Pennies microdonations at till (30 January 2025)
- New Neighbourly Mark shows corporate giving (13 September 2026)
- Lidl pledges £125k to support festive events as part of 2024 Christmas charitable drive (1 November 2024)
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.