arvato fundraises for The Prince’s Trust and is first in region to reach £10,000 target

In 2010, our Public Sector team in the East Riding selected The Prince’s Trust (Yorkshire and Humber) as its charity of the year and enrolled in its Million Makers scheme. We were the first team from the region to join in the scheme and, more importantly, the first to reach its £10,000 target.

The aim of The Trust’s Million Makers initiative is to raise £1m from businesses across the UK to go towards helping disadvantaged young people to gain the skills and confidence needed to change their lives and move into work, education or training. Employees of the businesses involved have the opportunity to develop their entrepreneurial skills and put their existing business skills to the test while carrying out the fundraising. Each team is challenged to turn £1,500 of funding investment into a profit of at least £10,000 inside one year.

Planning to succeed

To generate the required cash, arvato’s Million Makers team put together a structured fundraising plan, involving one event a month, supplemented by special money-making ideas. Events included taking part in the Beverley 10k race, local triathlon and a 26-mile charity bike ride; and running a Christmas Party raffle, Christmas market stall and staff family fun day. arvato’s fundraisers also organised a flagship fashion show, featuring a grand charity auction, which brought in more than £5,000, the largest single amount of all the Million Makers projects.

Gaining everyone’s support

News on events and the money raised were continually communicated to arvato colleagues, family and friends, via a dedicated website, encouraging people to keep on giving. In total, around 50 to 60 arvato employees took part in the fundraising activities and virtually every member of staff, over five hundred, were motivated to contribute by supporting the events or simply donating.

Within just six months, the arvato team had surpassed the £10,000, reaching a total of over £11,800, making arvato the first Million Makers team in the Yorkshire and Humber region to reach and exceed the £10,000 target. By the end of 2010, we had raised £13,445, which was topped up to £15,000 by an additional donation from the arvato management team.

“We are always keen to ensure that our corporate activities are beneficial to communities, particularly in regions such as the East Riding, where we partner a local authority. The Prince’s Trust Million Makers scheme stood out as an initiative that would benefit a local charity and our organisation by developing our employees’ business acumen, team-working skills, creativity and negotiation expertise.”

Rainer Majcen, Managing Director, Public Sector, arvato UK & Ireland