Retail big hitters join Pennies micro-donation movement
UK charity Pennies has attracted 40 new advisory board members from across the retail, hospitality, payment, and technology sectors.
The FinTech venture’s tech gives customers paying by card, digital wallet and emerging payment channels, a way to add a small donation to their purchase when shopping with participating retailers.
New members include execs from Joules, Wilko, The Very Group, Dixons Carphone, British Retail Consortium, Hello Fresh, Nandos, Papa Johns, and KFC.
Their aim is to support Pennies in raising £1 billion in micro-donations for UK charities.
This will include opening up conversations with new merchants and partners, and in some cases implementing Pennies at their own businesses.
Many of them will also have strategic advice for Pennies in terms of markets to enter, technology to help develop, and what's coming up in various markets in terms of trends, focusses for CEOs and boards that are useful to appreciate, and where retail/hospitality/payments are heading in the next 12 months.
Non-Executive Director, Angela Luger, who chairs the group, says: “The retail sector has been pivotal to the adoption and success of Pennies, helping to unlock over 125 million micro-donations which has transformed individuals’ lives and communities across the UK.”
“Yet Pennies is possibly one of the best kept secrets in our industry. This voluntary income is more vital now than ever as charities face a decrease in donations, but a greater demand on their services post-pandemic.”
She adds: “The new retail and services advisory board that I have the honour of chairing, aims to support the continued growth of pennies as we work towards our audacious goal to raise £1 billion per year in micro-donations’ for UK charities. We cannot wait to get started.”
Alison Hutchinson, CEO at Pennies, says: “We are thrilled and overwhelmed by the support from the retail industry, stepping forward to unlock even faster growth of this fantastic movement that has raised over £30 million for 750+ charities – which for us is really just the start.”
“Our success so far belongs to the millions of people who have given their digital spare change when shopping – and our next challenge is to ensure every consumer is able to do just that, no matter the environment in-store, online or in-app. There is a great deal to do together.”
