In this newsletter we’re sharing stories about; the generosity of the city of Sheffield, all about our Responsible Virtual Christmas Parties, 100 Fundraising ideas for every fundraiser, James Timpsons excellent Times article, success stories from Wakefield, and of course we share some fantastic charities looking for your support this month!

Donations in Sheffield on the Investors In Community platform hits 22k! Are the people of Sheffield becoming the most generous?

Sheffield is often named as Britain’s friendliest city, but did you know ‘Sheffielders’ are also generous?

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the charity sector has been hit hard these past few years, with so many seeing donations and funding disappear almost overnight as lockdown was enforced and events were cancelled. At the same time, however, charities have also come under increased pressure for their services due to more people turning up seeking their support.

Investors In Community have, however, seen great generosity amongst those in Sheffield region on the platform, with recent donations taking the total to £22,000 shared across the charities and community projects.

Here are the categories of charities Sheffield has supported:

Not only were these direct donations to charities, but some also involved extreme challenges such as a 100km Challenge, an 80ft Abseil and a 360-mile running challenge. Showing that those in Sheffield are not only generous but courageous too.

Philip Webb, Managing Director of Investors in Community, comments:

“These past few years have brought a huge number of challenges for people across the world with so many events cancelled, and fundraising opportunities limited, so we are delighted to see such an incredible amount raised for charities in the Sheffield region. We hope to continue to see this number grow and be matched across all cities in the UK.”

We are so grateful to everyone who’s generously supported charities via the Investors In Community Platform, but there’s still more that can be done. To donate to a good cause today, visit www.investorsincommunity.org

James Timpson: “Companies Should Put Charitable Works on The Front of Their Accounts”

James Timpson’s recent article in the Times shows how businesses can and should incorporate charitable giving into their company structure.

In this article, James discusses how important it is to start the right way when exploring Social Impact. At Timpson’s in particular, they began supporting foster families, as this had a personal connection for James whose parents were foster carers themselves. They later moved on to recruiting prisoners, giving them a second chance, and found that in doing this, they solved their recruitment problems at Timpson’s. When involving their colleagues in these initiatives, they found that they engaged most when encouraged to support their local community, so the impact was right in front of them.

Another interesting point brought up was how businesses benefit from these changes in more ways than you’d expect, James states that: “motivating colleagues to use their skills outside the business helps to broaden their experience and improve morale.” Investors In Community has seen the same outcome for early adopters of the IIC platform, when staff were engaged in projects and good causes, they felt passionately about, they felt more engaged and appreciated at work.

It’s clear that Timpson’s knows that Social Impact is no longer a “nice to have” it is an essential part of good business, and more people are calling for businesses to be more transparent about their giving. No longer do we hide this on page 163, this is a page one priority.

Start your businesses Social Impact journey today: https://investorsincommunity.org/

100 Fundraising Ideas!

1. Firewalk  – Kicking off with a crazy challenge that is not for the faint of heart: walking across a path of fire for charity, this one is sure to get people interested in your fundraising initiative.
2. Raffle – Ask for donations of items in your community if you’re a charity or as a business, make the prize an extra days holiday or a dinner for two voucher, people will definitely be interested in giving it a go!
3. Hike – Don those hiking boots and get walking! Find interesting local walks and commit to hiking 30 miles in one month, ask friends and family to sponsor you, and if you’d like to make it even more interesting, try finding some tricky trails to send photos and videos to your sponsors of you tackling a tough trek!
4. Dog Show – Get all the dog owners in the area to bring out their pooches for a fun day of showing off their tricks and who can make the cutest puppy face. Raise funds by asking the community to pay a small fee to attend.

5. Abseil – Everyone loves to see people taking on insane challenges, you could abseil 80 feet off of the Monsal Trail bridge in the Peak District, trust me, a lot of people would pay to see it!
6. Community Colour Wall – Grab your colleagues, your neighbours and friends and decide a wall to paint in the community, each person pays £2 to add their mark and by the end of the fundraiser you have a one of a kind art piece in your community and some pretty great funds raised for your chosen charity!
7. Dress Down Day – Do you have a mandatory uniform at your work? Ever considered having a casual day? Well why not do some fundraising in the process! Ask employees to donate £1 to come to work in comfy, casual clothes and donate all the proceeds to charity.
8. Head Shave – This is one for the bold people out there. Trust me, you will definitely get some sponsors out of it!
9. Game Night – Host a community game night and ask for donations to join in on the fun!
10. Bake Sale – What better way to raise money for charity than to bake some delicious treats and sell them to colleagues and friends. You could add some fun twists like baking without a recipe or having a theme to make the whole challenge more exciting!

Download our graphic above to read the rest!

Wakefield Community Raises £901 For Local Foodbanks!

Wakefield is leading the way and uniting purpose through their campaigns to support their community and for their most recent project they raised £901 for local foodbanks.

In Wakefield district there are 35 food banks, these foodbanks provide food and household items to hundreds of local families in their time of hardship. The foodbanks support needy families all year round, therefore, there is a need for donations, all year round, for them to purchase the items that are needed and your generous donations through the Investors in Community platform enable them to do that.

Have you booked your Christmas party yet?

It’s a tricky call to make this year and we’ve got the perfect solution to keep your team safe, connected and make sure they have a night to remember!

Bring together your team this Christmas with our specially created Virtual Christmas Parties, whilst raising money for charity!

Why should I have a virtual Christmas party?

• Keep everyone safe, leave no one out
• Invite 100s of guests; colleagues and customers
• Save your pocket and the planet with the greener way to party
• Avoid disruption with potential restrictions
• Support good causes and help others as a team
• Choose from three fantastic packages including professional entertainers, mixologists, wine experts, comedians and dancers who will have your guests making memories they’ll talk about all through 2022.

Best of all, you’ll be giving back!

We will support you as you choose your cause and set up your fundraising project in advance of the event, with marketing support to extend the reach of your project to maximise your fundraising efforts and then we will report back on the real impact you’ve made to your local community.

For each guest that attends your event £10 donation will automatically be donated to your chosen charity or good cause.

Furthermore, the first £100 raised outside of the £10 donations per event attendee will be match funded by Investors in Community.

Full details can be found here: https://investorsincommunity.org/virtualchristmasparty/

Our parties are booking up quickly now, contact us now if you would you like to know more. Our team are available for a call to discuss this anytime!

Contact: Faye Mower

Email: faye.mower@investorsincommunity.org

Contact: Louise Richardson

Phone: 07931 778 147
Email: louise.richardson@investorsincommunity.org

We thought we would share some amazing charities with you as well!

Save The Children

Save the Children, was established to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic opportunities, as well as providing emergency aid in natural disasters, war, and other conflicts. Support them here.

In Kind Direct

We believe everyone deserves access to life’s essentials and that no usable product should go to waste. In Kind Direct is the UK charity distributing consumer goods donated by companies to UK charitable organisations working in the UK and overseas. Support them here.

The Charity Shop Gift Card

The Charity Shop Gift Card works to bring sustainable fashion and social value to the high street. But our commitment to doing good doesn’t stop there. Support them here

Teenage Cancer Trust

Every day, seven young people aged 13-24 hear the words “you have cancer”. They will each need specialised nursing care and support to get them through it. We’re the only UK charity dedicated to meeting this vital need – so no young person faces cancer alone. Support them here.

Bodie Hodges Foundation

Our Vision is to give hope to families bereaved of a child by providing a range of services that support grieving families and encourage them to rebuild and remember. Support them here.

Join Investors In Community today to deliver your social impact and align with your purpose.