Pennies, the leading fintech charity working to enable, protect and grow micro-donations, is pleased to announce the appointment of Lori Cunningham to the role of Chief Partner Officer from 24th April 2024.
Having previously held senior roles at Vodafone, Countrywide and Telegraph Media Group, Lori brings huge experience across digital transformation, strategy, business development and brand management to the Pennies team, where she will oversee the Partnership function. Lori is also a Non-Executive Director at London Marathon Events, a Trustee at NEBOSH and was Vice Chair and a Trustee of The Makaton Charity until 2023.
Current Chief Partner Officer, Paul Seaman, also announces his semi-retirement and will be stepping down from his full-time leadership role at the end of June 2024, while remaining with Pennies in a part-time capacity as a key strategic and relationship advisor going forward.
“I am delighted to welcome Lori Cunningham to the Pennies team. Lori joins us with significant executive experience across a number of sectors and a track record of delivering digital transformation with a huge purposeful backbone. I am thrilled Lori has chosen to join Pennies and look forward to her energy and guidance to help our partners and Pennies deliver the next phase of growth.
“I also want to thank Paul Seaman for everything he has done, and achieved, for Pennies over the past 12 years. Our many partners and the team at Pennies have hugely benefited from Paul’s dedication and significant contribution to this micro-donation movement which recently smashed through £50M for nearly 1,000 different charities. We wish Paul all the very best in his new chapter.”
Pennies CEO, Alison Hutchinson CBE
At a time of challenge for businesses, charities and consumers, with continued cost-of-living pressures impacting spending and donation decisions, Pennies has seen 20% growth in the value of micro-donations collected across its merchant partners so far in 2024.
The opportunity and potential for digital, small-change donations has never been more significant – if every UK cardholder gave just 35p a week, we could unlock £1 billion in additional income for charities every year.
“I’m thrilled to be joining Pennies and to have the chance to build upon all that Paul has achieved over the last 12 years. Pennies is already the leader in the micro-donations market but still has amazing prospects for growth. I am particularly excited about the opportunity to further expand its eCommerce reach and increase the already significant impact that Pennies’ technology has had for almost 1,000 charities.
“I am really looking forward to working with Alison, Peter, Paul, and the rest of the dedicated Pennies team to garner the collective strength of micro-donations and demonstrate that, even with the smallest donation, every individual can make a difference.”
Lori Cunningham, incoming Chief Partner Officer
“I am also delighted to welcome Lori to the Pennies team and know that she will make a significant contribution to our success. It has been my privilege and joy to be part of Pennies over the last almost 12 years, working with such a wonderful team achieving so much. Whilst I wanted to take a step towards retirement, I am delighted to be able to continue on a part time basis to keep being part of this team as we accelerate the growth of the micro-donation movement and give my full support to Lori.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank, Alison, our FD Peter Nugent, our Trustees and our Advisory Board members and of course the Pennies team past and present for all their support over the years.”
Paul Seaman, out-going Chief Partner Officer
The appointment was made possible due to pro-bono support from leading executive search and leadership advisory firm, MBS Group.
Notes to Editors
For more information, please contact Natalie Charlotte Smith, Content Marketing Manager, Pennies – nataliecharlotte.smith@pennies.org.uk
About Pennies
Pennies is an award-winning fintech charity with an important mission: to enable, protect and grow micro-donations, ensuring people have digital ways to keep donating the small sums of money that are so vital to charities.
As a trusted leader in digital micro-donations, Pennies has created a movement that encourages giving, offers businesses a powerful way to demonstrate social purpose, helps charities make a greater impact, and gives the public a way to donate without cash, as part of their daily lives.
In an increasingly cashless society, Pennies’ micro-donation solutions give customers paying by card or digital wallet a convenient way to add a small donation to their purchase, when shopping with participating brands. Whether in-store, online and in-app, it’s a simple, affordable, data-free way to donate, with 100% of funds raised going to charity.
Millions of people are now making micro-donations every single week. To date Pennies has partnered with more than 150 retail, hospitality and technology brands and enabled more than 210 million micro-donations, raising millions of pounds in much-needed additional income for charities in the UK, Ireland and beyond. Together, payment providers, merchants and their customers are helping hundreds of charities make a meaningful difference to the causes and communities they serve.
Because micro-donations matter, now more than ever.
For more information about Pennies please visit: pennies.org.uk
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