Royal Mail Group Raise Over £1 Million Pounds

In 2005, the Royal Mail Group signed a three-year campaign agreement with Help the Hospices, which was the company's first national charity partnership. The fundraising target was £1m.

Organisation: Help the Hospices

Campaign: Royal Mail Campaign

Agency: In-house/Charities Trust

How it worked

Royal Mail Group offices, mail centres, Post Offices and Parcelforce depots raised funds for hospices in their local communities. About 300 community coordinators were recruited from all parts of the company to organise events such as bike rides from London to Paris and Land's End to John O'Groats, bring-and-buy sales and local cake bakes. The group also raised funds by sponsoring the Help the Hospices team in the 2006 London Marathon and encouraging more staff to enter its Payroll Giving scheme. Royal Mail Group matched the amount raised by staff with two donations of £250,000.

The company also launched a series of national fundraising projects, including a Help the Hospices stamp, the first ever to carry a charity message. A book of photographs taken by postmen and women on their rounds was published, with the proceeds going to the charity, and novelty marketing items such as reindeer food and Christmas angels were sold in Post Offices. Customers were also encouraged to donate leftover travel currency at foreign exchange counters.

Results

The campaign raised £1,966,000, almost double the original fundraising target. The number of Royal Mail group staff donating to the charity through Payroll Giving increased by more than 1,200 per cent.

"This partnership has been great for the hospice movement on many levels, in addition to the enormous sum it has raised," says Maxine Blunden, Director of Fundraising at Help the Hospices. "It has given us tremendous exposure to Royal Mail's 180,000 employees, not to mention its suppliers and customers across the UK and worldwide.

"One in three people in the UK has direct experience of hospice care, so it is a cause that very many people are keen to support when presented with the opportunity."

EXPERT VIEW - CHRIS EAST, DIRECTOR OF REVENUE FUNDRAISING, ACTION PLANNING

This partnership is a winner for both parties: the company is committed to making a difference to the communities and also supports a national cause that touches the majority of its customers, and the charity raises both its profile and much-needed funds.

And the reason it works is that it applies the basics of corporate fundraising.

The Royal Mail Group is a caring corporate member of the community, and Help the Hospices provides this on a national scale through its strong community links. At the same time, Help the Hospices does a superb job in increasing awareness of the support it provides for communities across the UK.

Help the Hospices invited many of the 180,000 employees of the Royal Mail Group as a volunteering network to raise funds and improve the profile of hospices across the UK.

The fundraising activity is also affordable for the Royal Mail Group, as they are able to sell novelty marketing items, encouraging leftover travel currency to be donated and inspiring staff to raise funds in the community all at little or no cost, making it an attractive partnership.

In all, it's a superb example of how to make the most of a corporate partnership.