#colchesterfundraisers

Monday update as we near the close of the month.

The surprising results:

Following on from the #colchesterfundraisers idea I now am taking two people to Indian Ocean for dinner on 25th June 2012 on North Hill Colchester where the restaurant is donating 25% of takings from set meals and takeaways that night to Lepra Health in Action. Would I have known about that without this social experiment? Who knows? 



Lepra Health in Action have been the focus of #colchesterfundraisers for June with all money raised by #colchesterfundraisers supporters on easyfundraising.org.uk payable to them at the end of the month.
So how has the social experiment worked out?
It started with a flurry of interest with charities keen to be the charity of the month and others keen to support. Then Easyfundraising got in touch and offered to help out by simplifying the idea so that there was one cause to support which switched local charities each month (#colchesterfundraisers)

I explained to lots of people that it doesn't cost anything, it's the retail site that pays over the money not you.
I explained that all it takes is a little shift in thinking, just enough to make sure that you go to easyfundraising.org.uk and then through that website to your usual one to buy your usual things. That on it's own will generate cash for the charities.

At the start of the month I knew that the most difficult thing to change is a habit.

At the end of the month I still know that habits are the hardest part to change.Going through easyfundraising website this month has generated £2.23 on my home account and £1.08 on the work account for Lepra Health in Action via #colchesterfundraisers giving a total of £3.31 they wouldn't usually have received from me.

If 9 more people join in next month then Autism Anglia could receive an unexpected £30 odd pounds...
Don't forget to add your choice of local charity to benefit to this post so that they have a turn.

Tell everyone you're joining in and let's get a proper groundswell here for really good causes.

Lepra Health In Action

*Newsflash*

are helping with this idea by making it easy for us! They have set up an account called "#colchesterfundraisers" that will switch charities each month on our instruction. This saves everybody having to remember individually.


#colchesterfundraisers first charity is Lepra Health In Action.
We're now 17 days into their turn and it would be great if more people could join in.
Most of us know this as a national/international charity so the question may be "what does it have to do with Colchester?"
Well, it's based in the town with it's head office on Middleborough.
It was the first charity suggested on the original post asking for suggestions for a Colchester charity for Colchester residents to support. As such it has the inaugural space. As well as providing direct health care overseas for leprosy sufferers Lepra works to raise awareness of the disease and to reduce the stigma attached to it.
Full information on their work can be found on their website.

The idea of #colchesterfundraisers was twofold:
Firstly an experiment to see if the town could pull together
Secondly to showcase the wide variety of charitable works we have on our own doorstep.
To ensure the idea remains impartial I am unable to suggest any charities myself but am aware that we have a long way to go before they are all listed.

Will joining in cost anything? No
What's the first step? Sign up at www.easyfundraising.org.uk 
Select your charity "#colchesterfundraisers"
Next step? When you buy online log into easyfundraising first to see if the website you intend using is on there.
With choices ranging from business cards to takeaway meals to Amazon to Boots to Tesco to Jessops to Achica and everywhere in between it's likely it is
When you buy from your chosen website it pays a small amount of commission across to easyfundraising for transfer to the charity. It doesn't cost you any more.
As a community we have the power to make a real difference if we make a concentrated effort rather than individuals  acting alone.
In 2010 Colchester had a population of 181,000. If we say that is all made up of families of 4 (it isn't) then we have 45250 families. If half of those have a computer and buy one item each month using #colchesterfundraisers and raise 5p then that's £2262.50 for the month's charity. A numbe any of them would be pleased with.
We have a long way to go but it's possible.
What's the difficult bit?
Remembering to use easyfundraising before going through to website you want to end up on.


Feel free to ask questions, add your charity in the comments box below and say hello on twitter @nneerraakk

Social experiment...

One day on from the original post and here's a quick update.
Lepra signed up yesterday and the first amount of cash towards their charity has been allocated to them today.
They'll have to wait until there's a bit more of it before it's paid over but pennies and pounds and all that...
The charities that have been nominated so far love the idea, one of them very quickly signing up for their easyfundraising account to make it possible.
I've had offers of space for guest blogs to promote the idea.
Colchester Chronicle have very generously and without me asking added the idea to their blog.
Some people already knew about the idea of funding through buying and are switching charities for the month to join in.
It doesn't make any difference to what we spend online simply the route we go to spend it.
Lepra were the first charity volunteered so they get June and the first round of cash.
Anglia Autismare eagerly awaiting their turn in July.
Will it work? Only people power can make it succeed. More and more if us are turning to doing our own thing and making our communities succeed through collaboration. Please help make it work, sign up ateasyfundraising choose Lepra as your charity for June, check back here or on twitter #colchesterfundraisers to see how we're all doing together for one cause,add your own choice of CO postcode charity in a comment at the bottom and most importantly...

Tell everyone you're joining in and let's get a proper groundswell here for really good causes.

Social experiment anyone?

Just how much difference could Colchester people make to Colchester charities simply by co-ordinating effort? This was something I wondered as I shopped online using www.easyfundraising.org.uk and realised that I'd raised around £40 on my home account and a similar amount on my work account.
I'd chosen 2 different charities and both of them had around 5 supporters.
Not a lot of cash for them then. But it had cost me nothing to do.
So what would happen if a group of people, let's say Colcestrians decided to all use the same fundraising website and support the same charity? Possibly for a month at a time so that everybody's chosen charity got a turn at being supported by the whole group.
So the only change in habit would be to go to the fundraising page before making a purchase so that a percentage of sale is donated by the retailer to the charity.
Possible common retailers include amazon, premier inn, jessops, trainline, moo business cards but there are hundreds of others covering just about everything we might buy.
At the moment there doesn't seem to be a team group facility on easyfundraising so maybe we could simply post in comments below our names or tweet them, I'm @nneerraakk
It wouldn't be fair for me to choose the first charity so maybe someone else can take first comment below to add their charity of choice. The only thing I would ask is that since I'm trying to see how this works in a limited area the charity has a CO postcode registered office.
As soon as the first comment is in I will switch my account over to that charity changing to the next one on the comments list on the first of each month. I will also tweet on the first of each month using #colchesterfundraisers to let everyone know what that month's charity is.
Fingers crossed this will snowball and we'll end up with loads of funds raised for local issues.
Any questions post them in the comments below and if possible let me know on twitter that it's there.
Good luck, Colchester, let's see how we do :)
Anyone care to be first with their charity?