Scope invites supporters to sponsor a shop
Howard Lake | 19 September 2012 | News
Disability charity Scope added another variant to the sponsorship model by inviting people to sponsor a new charity shop. Donors can loan or donate £50,000 to open a new shop, from which Scope will generate an even greater ongoing income.
Since each shop generates up to £30,000 a year, according to Scope, the loan can be paid back “within two years”.
The charity is promoting this model as The Scope Venture Philanthropy Fund.
New shops already funded
Scope has already successfully persuaded a number of people to invest in its fundraising in this way. Eight people donated and lent a total of £100,000 to open two shops this year in Ely and St Neots in Cambridgeshire.
After a 12-month test, the charity is now looking to expand the scheme, and aims to attract enough people to open up to 15 new shops by March 2013.
New patron Richard Bradbury
The scheme should benefit from the expertise of former River Island chief executive Richard Bradbury who has joined the charity as a patron. He is already working with online retailer Boden, at which he is a non-executive director, and other brands to support the scheme.
Bradbury said: “This scheme… offers donors an opportunity to not just support a service, but see their donation put to work, multiply and come to life in the form of a shop. This then provides a sustainable on-going income for Scope and the work it does to support disabled people and their families.”
Richard Hawkes, Chief Executive of Scope, added: “By helping us open a new shop, a supporter will see their donation triple in value in just five years. Scope is about making this a better place for disabled people – this new way of fundraising means we can run more campaigns and provide more services that help us achieve that vision”.
Scope has 235 charity shops. In 2011/12 the shops generated £2.9 million of income for the charity’s work with disabled people, a 27% increase on the previous year.
www.scope.org.uk/how-you-can-help/donate-scope/philanthropy/scope-venture-philanthropy-fund
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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.