Words by Smiley Team
The pandemic has resulted in financial difficulties for many and with budgets tighter than ever, both individuals and organisations alike are struggling. In light of this, For Good Causes is launching the world’s first charitable ecosystem which works to create a brand-new income stream, allowing consumers to give to their chosen charity without spending a penny, by converting their loyalty points and rewards into a digital monetary donation.
Consumers can give to any UK registered charities, who as a result of the crisis are predicting a 48% decrease in voluntary donations in spite of a 43% increase in demand according to the Institute of Fundraising.
The platform unites hundreds of brands and retailers with more than 20,000 charities, enabling millions of consumers to donate their loyalty and reward points to causes that are close to their heart. Charity Partners participating in the launch of the new service include Macmillan Cancer Support, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Combat Stress, The Trussell Trust and NHS Charities Together.
Crispin Rogers, CEO of For Good Causes says ‘On average we have around 6 loyalty cards each in the UK and more than half of us don’t use all our points and rewards. This means over £7bn worth of unused rewards are sitting around doing nothing, whilst millions more are being earned every day. Imagine if we could recycle just some of that value and turn it into a force for good, helping UK charities continue their amazing work.’
Recent research conducted by KPMG showed 61% of millennials would prefer to donate their rewards to good causes than redeem them for personal use. And increasingly we are talking to brands who want to enable customers to do both – take some personal benefit, whilst also doing good and supporting others.
Brands currently joining the For Good Platform include BP, the Koin Rewards app which hosts 40 sustainable merchants and Rakuten which enables people to earn points at high-street brands. These new brands join existing partners such as Vodafone, Quidco and Pure Planet. Vodafone customers alone donated their rewards to more than 1,750 different charities via the For Good Causes platform.
Louise Parkes, Chief Executive at GOSH Charity who are one of the partners, says that "Now more than ever, we are relying on the generosity of our supporters to be able to continue supporting the hospital to deliver the very best care to seriously ill children from across the UK. Making it easy for people to donate by using rewards they’ve earned in their daily lives is a fantastic way of raising vital funds, and we’re thrilled to be one of the charities involved in this initiative.”
You can visit https://www.forgoodcauses.org/ for more information and a full list of charities and brands that are onboard.
By Ellen Jones
