Pennies, the electronic charity box, is gaining momentum as the number of consumer micro-donations made via Pennies has doubled in just six months bringing the total to two million.  This has raised £500,000 supporting a growing number of UK charities.


The Pennies scheme, which launched 17 months ago, gives consumers the simple option to donate a few pence to charity with a single touch of a button when they use a debit or credit card to purchase goods and services. 


All the money raised goes to charity, with the retailer nominating the charities they want to support with the majority of donations they collect.  The remaining money raised is shared amongst charities that cover a broad range of causes designed to appeal to a mass audience.  The capacity to give in this way is incredible. If every one of the 43 million cardholders in the UK gave 30p once a month (equivalent to a penny a day), it would raise more than £150m a year.

Alison Hutchinson, CEO of The Pennies Foundation, commented:“We have been delighted to see the public embracing micro-donations and joining the Pennies movement. The money raised so far is already making a big difference to so many people’s lives. We look forward to seeing that £500,000 figure continue to rise, as more retailers switch on Pennies and more charities benefit.”

To date Pennies has supported 29 charities, large and small, with some receiving significant sums. Domino’s Pizza was the first retailer to adopt the Pennies scheme in November 2010 and their nominated charity Special Olympics GB (Northern Ireland customers donate to Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice) has received over £185,000 which they are already using to deliver a range of projects including a scheme to recruit up to 12,000 additional athletes with learning difficulties and 2,500 new volunteers.  


Pennies is already available in ten national retailers including Domino’s Pizza, Zizzi restaurants, Travelodge, GO Outdoors and Screwfix as well as a number of smaller merchants, and momentum is growing as more and more retailers switch on Pennies.


Kingfisher group’s Screwfix recently became the latest retailer to switch on Pennies.  John Mewett, Marketing Director for Screwfix, said:“We believe that Pennies is a really simple and sustainable way to offer our ongoing support to our nominated charity Everyman. We were delighted by the immediately positive response from our customers which exceeded our expectations.  Once added together their pennies will make a huge difference to the great work that Everyman does.”

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors:

For further information on Pennies, please contact:

Liz Kearsley,
The Pennies Foundation  
liz.kearsley@pennies.org.uk
Tel: 07814 047 175   

Jane Fearnley, Bell Pottinger Consumer
JFearnley@bpconsumer.co.uk
Tel: 020 7861 3803


About Pennies:

The Pennies Foundation, a registered charity, has created Pennies, the electronic charity box. We’re all familiar with the idea of dropping our change into the charity box sitting on the shop counter. The electronic charity box is exactly the same idea but it works instead when we pay by card in store, online and increasingly by mobile. That means that it works just as well for online or high-street shopping.

Pennies makes giving to charity easy and affordable for all: customers can simply press ‘YES’ on the Chip & PIN machine in-store, or click the ‘Donate’ button online.  The request is for micro-donations – literally a few pennies (1p-99p) - either by rounding up or topping up. The Pennies Foundation then ensures that all the donations are received and distributed to UK charities.

The retailer nominates the charity or charities to benefit from the majority of the amount collected with the remainder shared amongst other UK charities which cover a range of causes like cancer, children, homelessness and the elderly.

It’s quick: one small step in the payment process, it’s the consumers’ choice and it’s private too.  There’s no pressure or commitment to give and every penny goes to charity. 

Micro-donations are powerful. There are 43 million card holders in the UK today, and around 1 million card transactions an hour. If the UK’s card holders donated 30p once a month well over £150m would be raised for charity every year.

To date Pennies has supported 29 charities, large and small, with some receiving significant sums. Domino’s Pizza was the first retailer to adopt the Pennies scheme in November 2010 and their nominated charity Special Olympics GB (Northern Ireland customers donate to Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice) has received over £185,000 which they are already using to deliver a range of projects including a scheme to recruit up to 12,000 additional athletes with learning difficulties and 2,500 new volunteers.  

Pennies is already available in ten national retailers including Domino’s Pizza, Zizzi restaurants, Travelodge, GO Outdoors and Screwfix as well as a number of smaller merchants, and momentum is growing as more and more retailers join the Pennies movement

For more information on Pennies please visit:
www.pennies.org.uk
@pennies_orguk
http://www.facebook.com/PenniesElectronicCharityBox