Pennies, the trusted leader in micro-donations, proudly supports Giving Tuesday, celebrating the many ways we can give back. Through micro-donations, Pennies makes it easy to donate a few pence to charity, creating a lasting impact.
Empowering Communities Through Sports: Pennies and Fanatics’ Collaborative Impact
Since 2022, Pennies and Fanatics have worked together to raise money for charity through micro-donations. They have raised over £55,000 through 87,000 donations by partnering with sports clubs and events that support their local communities.
Pennies formed a successful partnership with Fanatics, a digital sports platform and global leader in licensed sports merchandise, to amplify charitable donations through micro-donations. This collaboration spans many sports clubs, from football to rugby, demonstrating the transformative power of integrating micro-donations into various touchpoints and businesses.
What we did.
Pennies’ partnership with Fanatics began in 2022, when Global Payments introduced Pennies to Everton FC, and they became the first club to enable micro-donations at the till in their official club store by Goodison Park.
Fans purchasing official club merchandise such as kits, scarves, and other official items in-store are given the opportunity to add a small charity donation through Pennies when they pay by card at the till. These contributions are helping to support their charity partner, Everton in the Community, one of the UK’s top sporting charities supporting the most vulnerable and underprivileged members of local communities.
Since then, Pennies has partnered with Fanatics across many more opportunities, both in-store and online, focusing primarily on football and rugby clubs along with their associated charity foundations. This includes partnerships with notable names such as Aston Villa, Barnsley FC, Derby County FC, Everton FC, Hibernian FC, The Open Championship, Reading FC, Millwall FC and England Rugby Store at Twickenham.
Additionally, the partnership has extended to support major sporting events like The Open in 2024, benefiting partner charity Conservation International UK (see image to the right), helping support them with projects around the world and preserve global biodiversity.
Pennies’ straightforward model has facilitated seamless integration of micro-donation technology at the point of sale across multiple clubs’ both in-store and online. This approach has streamlined charitable giving for multiple entities on the Fanatics platform, in a way that is simple and easy to implement and gives customers a way to impact positively on their communities.
Working with Pennies has allowed us to seamlessly integrate charitable giving into our customer experience, enhancing our partner clubs’ community impact and charitable contributions. The ease of implementation and the ongoing support from Pennies have been invaluable.
The impact.
To date, the Pennies and Fanatics partnership has seen substantial micro-donations made in support of sports club foundations and local communities.
New Donation Opportunities
Since 2022, Pennies-enabled Fanatics customers have made over 87,00 individual micro-donations, raising more than £55,000.
Charity Foundations
Supported several sports-related charity foundations across the UK, helping to benefit local communities.
Support at Major Events
Facilitated campaigns with Fanatics during high-footfall events such as The Open in 2024.
Pennies’ donations, in partnership with Fanatics, have supported several sports club charitable foundations, benefiting local communities across England.
Charities including Barnsley FC Community Trust, Millwall Community Trust, Everton in the Community, Reading Football Community Trust, and Rugby Football Foundation have all received micro-donations to help run programs addressing local issues and supporting their communities.
- Donations from Everton fans support Everton in the Community, enabling the charity to tackle social issues at the heart of their community, including health, employability, poverty, youth engagement and justice.
- Donations from Reading fans support Reading Football Community Trust, helping them to engage with local people and make a genuine impact on their lives through the Trust’s motto ‘Care, Develop, Educate’.
- Donations from England Rugby Store customers support the Rugby Football Foundation, who offer grants for a variety of projects to Rugby Clubs that are level 5 and below in the English Clubs Rugby Union Championship, contributing to the recruitment and retention of community rugby players.
Our partnership with Fanatics showcases how businesses can harness technology to drive social good. The substantial contributions made through sports clubs working with Fanatics and Pennies underscore the transformative power of micro-donations. We eagerly anticipate expanding our collaboration with Fanatics to further support charitable causes.
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Start your journey now.
From retail, hospitality and technology brands looking to make a real difference, to charities looking to boost their impact, now is your chance to join the micro-donation movement.