The Institute of Fundraising have announced they are working with the Royal Mint to encourage members of the public to give their old £1 coins to charity.
The IoF said that the phasing in of the new, 12-sided, bimetallic £1 coin, which came into circulation on Tuesday, means that charities have the chance to raise up to £21m through donations of the old, round £1 coin, which will cease to be legal tender from 15 October 2017.
In a blog, Stephanie Siddall, policy officer at the IoF, said that the phasing in of the new £1 coin could provide charities with a similar fundraising opportunity to the #FirstFiver campaign which a lunched last year with the new £5 note.
“It’s estimated that over one third of the £1.3 billion worth of coins stored in piggy banks or jam jars around the UK, are the current £1 style. Government research suggests that that 5 per cent of the public would consider donating their old £1 coins to a charity when they cash them in,” wrote Siddall.
“We’ve been working with the Royal Mint and others to encourage people to donate their old pound coins when they receive a new one, raising awareness using the hashtag #PoundforPound.”
According to research at the end of last year, the #FirstFiver campaign raised over £12.5m for charity, and the IoF are convinced that its #PoundforPound campaign can raise even more.
Michael Birtwistle, senior policy adviser at NCVO, said that “some of the most significant fundraising opportunities” are likely to come for charities in the summer.
“Previous updates in coins or notes have resulted in successful fundraising opportunities for charities, such as last year’s #FirstFiver campaign.
"There’s similar scope for charities to get involved in the Royal Mint’s publicity of the new coin launch and raise awareness of their cause by highlighting their fundraising efforts on social media.”
Macmillan, NSPCC and Action for Children amongst charities fundraising using new £1 coin
A number of large fundraising charities, including Macmillan have already begun fundraising using the new £1 coin.
Macmillan have started a campaign using the #poundcoin, and have said that 28 of the new £1 coins “could pay for one hour of care from a Macmillan nurse”.
In Fundraising Magazine
Discount retailer Poundlound have also teamed up with Macmillan and have set up charity tins at checkouts across its stores.
A number of charities, including Action for Children, the NSPCC and Sue Ryder have also begun using the #PoundforPound set up by the IoF and Royal Mint.
A spokesman for CAF, said: “When the new £5 note was introduced last year, our UK Giving research found that around one in 20 people donated their first one to charity. The Treasury suggests a similar number of people are likely to be giving their old round pound coins to a good cause. There’s a great opportunity for charities to get involved and raise some pounds.”
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