R
RJamesJGC
- Original Poster
- #1
Hi all,
I work for a social enterprise offering press and PR support to small charities. To date we have largely been charging clients, although we also pick up as much work for free as we can afford to.
Ideally we would like to offer our services at no charge to charities with an income of less than £40,000 - because we know often they just do not have the budget to accommodate comms support - and equally we know what a difference it can make to these organisations.
Sadly, however, we do not currently have the capacity to offer our services for free.
My solution to this is a pay it forward scheme:
In a nutshell, we will ask SMEs, companies and even individuals to purchase or 'sponsor' one of our stand-alone services (to include writing and distributing a press release, one day media training, media reviews, design, copywriting to name a few) varying in price from £120 up to £740.
This service will then be displayed on our website notice board, along with the logo of the sponsoring company, where it can be claimed by any charitable organisation with an income of less than £40,000.
If the sponsorship is at a substantial level, we can also do a bit of publicity for the sponsor in their local area - as we want to celebrate people who are willing to pay it forward.
The hope is that with the boost to fundraising and operations good comms can provide, these small charities will one day be in a position to 'pay it forward' and sponsor a service for another organisation who finds themselves in need.
What I'd really like to know is whether you think this is a viable business model. We would continue to supplement this model with paying clients (with incomes over £40,000), so we would not be reliant upon its success - it's really just so we can offer free support to smaller organisations.
Could you please let me know whether you would consider participating, or if not, what the barriers to your involvement would be?
Thanks, and apologies for the long post!
I work for a social enterprise offering press and PR support to small charities. To date we have largely been charging clients, although we also pick up as much work for free as we can afford to.
Ideally we would like to offer our services at no charge to charities with an income of less than £40,000 - because we know often they just do not have the budget to accommodate comms support - and equally we know what a difference it can make to these organisations.
Sadly, however, we do not currently have the capacity to offer our services for free.
My solution to this is a pay it forward scheme:
In a nutshell, we will ask SMEs, companies and even individuals to purchase or 'sponsor' one of our stand-alone services (to include writing and distributing a press release, one day media training, media reviews, design, copywriting to name a few) varying in price from £120 up to £740.
This service will then be displayed on our website notice board, along with the logo of the sponsoring company, where it can be claimed by any charitable organisation with an income of less than £40,000.
If the sponsorship is at a substantial level, we can also do a bit of publicity for the sponsor in their local area - as we want to celebrate people who are willing to pay it forward.
The hope is that with the boost to fundraising and operations good comms can provide, these small charities will one day be in a position to 'pay it forward' and sponsor a service for another organisation who finds themselves in need.
What I'd really like to know is whether you think this is a viable business model. We would continue to supplement this model with paying clients (with incomes over £40,000), so we would not be reliant upon its success - it's really just so we can offer free support to smaller organisations.
Could you please let me know whether you would consider participating, or if not, what the barriers to your involvement would be?
Thanks, and apologies for the long post!
