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.
Poundland and Poundland Foundation: Transforming Lives through Micro-Donations
Discount retailer Poundland partnered with Pennies in 2019, introducing micro-donations to their checkout and enabling customers to support their charity partners and the Poundland Foundation. With the introduction of donations for contactless transactions in 2023 too, customers are making a vital impact on charitable causes close to Poundland’s customers’ hearts.
Poundland launched the Poundland Foundation in 2021, with a mission to support families and change lives across the UK. Having used Pennies in their stores for two years to support other charity partners, Poundland looked to build on this relationship to help raise both funds and awareness for the Foundation with customers and colleagues.
In addition, Poundland was keen to explore ways to significantly boost fundraising and awareness with Pennies. The initial Pennies implementation didn’t provide them with the option for customers to donate when paying by contactless, so exploring options to enable Pennies donations for these payments was also a high priority.
What we did.
Pennies supported Poundland to transition seamlessly from supporting three charities with customer micro-donations to supporting their own Poundland Foundation, a grant-making charity working to support families and change lives across the UK. This not only introduced a valuable new stream of funding for the Foundation, but helped raised awareness and kickstarted other fundraising efforts.
In 2023, Poundland successfully introduced Pennies for contactless payments too. As Poundland looked to make a change to their payments technology, it was a perfect moment to integrate Pennies micro-donations into the contactless payments journey.
Pennies worked closely with the teams at Poundland and Worldpay to complete the work, and the integration was optimised for their specific customer experience. Customers can now donate 25p at checkout – whether they pay by Chip & PIN or contactless – and Pennies has become embedded in Poundland’s business model.
This move propelled Poundland’s weekly fundraising from an average of around £3,000 to an impressive £27,000.
Pennies worked closely with us to ensure a smooth integration with our customer experience and enhance our contactless payment journey. As a discount retailer that places great importance on value, our customers have warmly embraced the micro-donation option at checkout, and we are delighted by the positive response. Our customers have shown remarkable generosity through their contributions, with millions opting to support the Poundland Foundation’s mission.
The impact.
Since launch, millions of customers have embraced Pennies micro-donations, resulting in over £1.1 million raised for charity from over 4.6 million donations. Through the generosity of customers, Poundland have not only raised substantial funds for Poundland Foundation but also improved awareness and engagement among their customers and colleagues.
Charitable Giving
Over £1.1 million raised, benefiting national charity partnerships and community grant programs.
Social Responsibility
Enhanced their value and ethics-led vision, fostering a strong connection among colleagues.
Customer Engagement
Millions of Poundland customers now actively support the charity Poundland Foundation.
The addition of Pennies to Poundland’s contactless payments has been transformative, significantly enhancing their ability to create a meaningful impact. It has introduced a consistent source of funding for the Poundland Foundation and helped their national charity partners, Make-A-Wish Foundation UK, Tommy’s and Whizz-Kidz, reach more children and families who need their support:
- Just 30 minutes of micro-donations from Poundland customers can enable Tommy’s to hold two Tommy’s Clinics to help two women and their families keep their babies safe.
- 1 day of micro-donations from Poundland customers could help Whizz-Kidz deliver a piece of life-changing mobility equipment to a young person.
- 1 week of micro-donations from Poundland customers can help Make-A-Wish UK grant the wishes of 10 children with a life-limiting condition.
There is immense power when a group of people work together toward the same goals. This is evident in what Poundland have achieved collaborating with Pennies, making a significant difference to their Foundation and the local communities they serve. Pennies is proud to be part of this journey.
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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.