In the run-up to Christmas we will be profiling a number of charities for readers who have time or money they would like to donate, or are seeking help in those areas. Today it's the turn of electronic charity box scheme Pennies
Have you noticed how few charity collection tins there are these days? It used to be a very easy way to give to charity ? just donating the odd penny or two in change after after buying something for �1.95 or �2.99.
But Alison Hutchinson, chief executive of The Pennies Foundation, says very few shops, restaurants and pubs are willing to put the tins on their counters for fear of theft and fraud.
Their disappearance, and the move from cash transactions to plastic, sparked the idea of Pennies, a scheme to enable shoppers to donate very small amounts of money electronically. The scheme gives consumers paying via debit or credit cards the chance to round up their bills and donate the excess.
Making these micro donations is unbelievably easy, says Hutchinson. "It's just one touch. The website or card payment machine simply shows you how much you could donate by topping up your payment, and asks you whether you want to donate the money. No one, not even the checkout person, knows whether you say yes or no, so you are under no pressure."
Retailers can choose that payments made by altruistic customers are either topped up to the nearest pound, or that a set amount ? such as 5p ? is taken.
Several retailers already offer the scheme: Domino's Pizza was the first to sign up, nominating Special Olympics as the charity to receive the �178,000 it has raised in the past year through donations made when customers order online. Other participants include The Entertainer (donations go to four children's hospitals including Great Ormond Street), Travelodge, Zizzi and the Rugby Football Union. Charities to benefit include the RNIB, the NSPCC, Shelter, Macmillan and the Children's Burns Trust.
The scheme has now been developed on a community level in Grimsby, where 75% of the money donated will go to a local hospice, and the remaining 25% will go to other charities operating in the area.
Pennies has raised �250,000 from 1m donations in its first year, but Hutchinson is keen to get more retailers, communities and cardholders involved. "If every cardholder in the UK donated just 30p a month ? 1p a day on average ? it would raise more than �150m a year," she says.
So she is calling on retailers to adopt the scheme: the technology is free and all ready for them ? all they have to do is select a charity they would like to benefit, and switch the technology on. Businesses who want to find out how to get involved should email carolyn.simons@pennies.org.uk or call 020 7600 9286.
And from consumers she would like two things: obviously that they donate their spare pennies when making payments at participating retailers, but also to encourage those that aren't part of the scheme to join up.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/dec/02/charity-advent-pennies-foundation
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