Domino's Pizza first to offer microdonation service Pennies
Howard Lake | 8 November 2010 | News
Domino’s Pizza is the first retailer to offer its customers the option to top up their credit/debit card payment with a donation to charities of a few pennies using Pennies, “the electronic charity box”.
Created by The Pennies Foundation, a UK registered charity, Pennies uses the existing retail payments system. Donations are always pennies, never pounds and giving is of course optional. There is “no personal information, no forms and no commitment to give”, according to the charity.
Donations can be made by one touch of a button on the Chip and PIN machine in-store or when shopping online. Customers can donate between 1 penny and 99 pence to UK charities. “All the money that’s given will go to charity”, say the charity.
Retailers choose the charities to benefit from the majority of the money raised through their outlets. In Domino’s Pizza case 75% of the income will be donated to Special Olympics Great Britain which provides confidence building year-round sports training and competition to people of all ages with learning disabilities.
The remainder of the money collected in the electronic charity box will be distributed by The Pennies Foundation to charities delivering services to a range of people across the UK. During the initial period, these are Carers UK, Children’s Burns Trust, Children’s Hospices UK, Macmillan Cancer Support, NSPCC, RNIB, Shelter, The Prince’s Trust, and Youth Music.
Consumers will know which charity is supported by the retailer before they decide to press ‘YES’ and give their pennies. The public can see details of all the charities being supported at www.pennies.org.uk.
Alison Hutchinson, CEO of The Pennies Foundation, said: “Pennies are powerful and a lot of people giving a little can make a big difference. The more people who give a few pennies through the electronic charity box the more people can be helped. What’s exciting is that as more retailers join in, more charities can be supported. I’m looking forward to Pennies becoming a familiar sight on our high streets and online and I’m delighted to be starting this journey with such a popular brand as Domino’s.”
The relevant software developments for the Domino’s launch were completed by Vexed Digital.
Pennies from Pennies 4 Charity on Vimeo.
www.pennies.org.uk
Advertisement
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.