Generating income when you’ve ‘shut up shop’? What now? Thinking INSIDE the box!

Guest blog from Corporate Members, Vintage Giving.

The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) announced yesterday that they predict a £4 billion loss of income in this quarter, with many charities facing ‘imminent collapse’ as a result of Covid-19.

The reality is that the charity retail network is a stable, reliable and profitable revenue stream and to lose this (even temporarily) is critical and, for most charities, very concerning.  Even more worrying is when this is coupled with many charities also losing forecasted fundraising income due to cancelled or postponed campaigns and events.

We all know that charity shops are the lifeblood of many charity’s fundraising plans and finding ways to ‘plug that income gap’ (in any way possible) is very challenging and much needed right now.

So, what happens now? Charities have rightly “shut-up-shop” and suspended their retail networks. They’ve accepted that their shops are now cost centres rather than income streams. Their Shop Managers and paid staff are in ‘lock down’ with the rest of the public, yet wishing they could do more to help the charity and cause they’re passionate about.

Now is a time when fundraising and retail teams can come together to support the shared goal of delivering income from existing donors, previous supporters and the general public.

However, asking any of these groups for money is difficult at the moment, when many have been furloughed, or are worried about their future finances and pensions. Many have loyalty and personal experience of your cause, and this may go some way to feeling compelled to help – but at times of crisis we all focus on caring for our nearest and dearest in every way we can.

Since the crisis hit the UK we’ve been in regular contact with our 275 charity partners and their 1,400 charity shops (before closure) and are very aware of the impact the current situation is having on their fundraising events, campaigns and income. This is where we come in; because we can help make a difference, right now.

We’re in a unique position to help charities to continue to generate vitally important funds, but not by asking for cash. Instead, we can turn supporters’ unwanted old and vintage items quickly and easily into funds for you.

Our service is simple and free:

1. Your supporter visits our website VintageGiving.com and selects your charity from our dropdown list

2. Order their free donation pack

3. Pack up a box and order a FREE Parcelforce collection

4. Receive an email notifying them how much their box has raised for your charity

Our free fundraising service does not involve any face to face contact between individuals, Parcelforce and, as such, can continue to raise money safely.

We’re able to reassure all our charity partners that at Vintage Cash Cow for Charities we are exceeding government guidelines keeping you and your supporters, and our staff and suppliers safe.

We also have marketing resources prepared and ready to go for charities to promote the service to their supporters via their social media channels, which is the quickest and safest way to stay in touch whilst the current situation continues.

But what could this be worth to a charity? Typically, a donated box is worth around £80, and if only 1% of your donor base send a box, then you can do the maths, but for many charities that’s a substantial amount of money to support the fundraising shortfall.

To help further, we are boosting the value of all boxes sent to us from charities and their supporters by 10%. Whilst we recognise that this, alone, will not resolve the problems facing charities, we hope it will at least help a little!

This offer will remain in place whilst the worst of the crisis continues and we will apply it to all charity boxes, including those from new charities who sign up in the coming days and weeks.

We’re here to help. We have a strong partnership with many UK charities, both those with and without shops and we know that our fundraising model works. Our free solution will help support your charity and generate new income, particularly in the tough weeks and months ahead

For further information about our services, please contact Garry Wilkinson (Head of Charity Partnerships) on garry.w@vintagecashcow.co.uk or on 07494-093945. 

About Us:

Vintage Cash Cow is a trusted partner to over 275 charities in the UK serving over 1,400 shops.  We have a Trust Pilot rating of 9.4 out of 10.  All our services are completely free for charities, supporters and members of the public to use and we have paid out over £2.5 million to customers and charities, since we launched our service in 2016.  We are proud to be corporate members of the Charity Retail Association and Platinum Partners of the Hospice Income Generation Network.