November’s Sales Fundraising Stars: Four Small Businesses And Their Charitable Impact.
‘Tis the season of giving!
Although the nation is facing many challenges, this hasn’t stopped small businesses from their charitable giving - helping those that need it most.
At the end of November, many organisations will be turning Black Friday into good, using it to fundraise for charity. Whilst others will be getting involved with Giving Tuesday. Straight after Cyber Monday, this joyful day is all about celebrating acts of generosity.
It is this positivity within the business community that deserves a spotlight. Read on to learn about four more brilliant businesses that use their work to do good and who are this month's inspiring Sales Fundraising Stars.
The Resilient Retail Club
I feel acutely aware of how fortunate I am to have a warm house, especially as the winter is approaching, and I really feel that donating money to Crisis is the very least I can do.”
- Catherine Erdly, Founder of the Resilient Retail Club.
Catherine Erdly is a respected small business retail expert and fabulous fundraising champion!
After working in retail for two decades and learning the ins and outs of the industry, Catherine realised she could offer her expertise as a solopreneur. So she established the incredibly popular Resilient Retail Club, a consultancy service helping small businesses within the retail sector. She also writes for Forbes and works closely with Small Business Britain, who run Small Business Saturday UK.
Catherine also donates 2% of all sales to charity through Work for Good, aiming to increase the percentage each year until she hits 10%. It’s a highly rewarding part of running her business, and one of her favourite things is picking a different charity to fundraise for each quarter.
Since April 2021, she has so far raised over £2,700 through the Resilient Retail Club but she has also championed charitable giving through business, and many small businesses have started to fundraise because of Catherine.
Currently, Catherine is fundraising for Crisis, the national charity fighting to end homelessness.
Beauty Industry Approval
For us at BIA, fundraising for YoungMinds is very important as we work with many young people who want to better themselves. We find that the beauty industry and mental health go hand-in-hand together.”
- Sarah Gibb, Director of Beauty Industry Approval.
Sarah Gibb, founder of Beauty Industry Approval (BIA) and assessor, Kim Gibb, are passionate about helping people – especially when it comes to mental health.
Passionate about keeping beauty industry standards high, Sarah founded Beauty Industry Approval (BIA) to offer people courses and accreditation in beauty, hair and aesthetics. This includes a comprehensive online mental health awareness course that’s suitable for all ages. The course costs £20+VAT, and 100% of the fees go to charity.
BIA donates the money to Young Minds, which supports children and parents through difficult times. They are delighted to have so far raised over £2,700! In total, have raised over £6,000 for mental health charities and will continue to do so!
Ellbie Co
I started the Make Happy Club box as a way to give back, but also to help more people learn how to stitch. It means so much to me to be creative but at the same time use my creativity to support so many amazing charities!”
- Becci Nibelle, Founder of Ellbie Co and the Make Happy Club
Becci Nibelle’s craft company, Ellbie Co, creates vibrant, colourful craft kits. Including the joyful Make Happy Club box, a monthly stitching subscription box that is all about crafting for good.
Members receive a rainbow-coloured package each month, filled with all the tools needed for even novice stitchers to enjoy stitching a new project. £3 from the sale of each box goes to a charity.
The idea is that it helps people stitch for mindfulness and create something to be proud of. At the same time, customers can support fantastic charities and help them continue the good they put into the world!
Becci and her customers have so far raised over £1,500 for charity through sales of the Make Happy Club box. She has supported charities including Bloody Good Period, Refuge and Switchboard LGBT+ Helpline. Right now, she’s fundraising for Dementia Adventure - a charity that supports people living with dementia.
Rather Good Art
Rather Good Art is a family run business based in Wells, Somerset. They launched in February 2021, specialising in cards by artists such as Eric Ravilious. For their first Christmas they created a range of cards to raise funds for Shelter, the homeless charity.
Their cards proved incredibly popular and they managed to raise over £1,300!
This year they are doing it again and are donating 5% of every purchase of their stunning Christmas cards to the charity via Work for Good.
Shelter works tirelessly throughout the year to defend everyone's right to a safe, secure home by providing services to those in immediate need. The charity also campaigns to tackle issues of the housing crisis and recently launched their Fight For Home campaign.
Keep an eye out for our December Stars, where we’ll celebrate our final group of festive fundraisers.
If you're inspired by these businesses, check out our new #GiftforGood resources to learn how businesses can raise funds for charity this Christmas through their sales.
