In May, Sainsbury's branches will invite nominations from shoppers and staff for a local charity for each store. The selected charities will benefit from a year-long link with their local supermarket, with staff getting involved to organise fundraising events and volunteering for the charity throughout the year.
Many branches were successful in 2013 and being chosen can be a real boost, raising over £2,000 for the branch. The nomination process is very easy.
Shoppers fill in a short nomination form and post it into the 'Local Charity of the Year' voting box in the store.
Their Community Champion will then draw up a shortlist from all nominations submitted, and representatives from the shortlisted charities will be asked to visit the store to talk to colleagues about what they do and how the Sainsbury's team could support them.
Why not get local people helping by:
- Call in and introduce the branch to the Community Champion. Let them know about the branch and why the store should support you.
- Use the article for branch newsletters to ask local people to nominate the branch. The more emotive nominations the branch gets, the more likely the store is to take notice of you and put you on the shortlist. (You could write a short blurb about your branch on a few nomination forms and give these to people to submit – it makes it easier for them and makes sure they get across exactly what the branch does).
- Does anyone have a connection with the store? Such personal links can really help.
If you are shortlisted, your Area Fundraiser will be happy to help you prepare to present to the store about why you should be chosen
Good luck!
