We bring experience, creativity and lots of energy to help you kickstart, develop and implement your marketing, PR or fundraising strategies.

Whether you are looking to refresh your marketing or starting from scratch we will guide you through the planning process; setting objectives, exploring your key messages and their importance in your communications and fundraising activities. We will help you identifying which channels will help your organisation reach your specific audience.

We can help you with complete organisational strategies, campaigns or one-off projects.

Read more about how we helped Ethics on Line shape their vision.

Ensure your social media and digital content is strategic, consistent and creative.

We will work with you to develop and grow your online presence, creating campaigns and content including managing your social media platforms, E-Newsletters and blogs to build stronger relationships with all your stakeholders.

Whether you’d like to develop your own skills to implement your plans or would like us to look after your social media management we offer a service that flexes as your organisation grows.

We love to help generating valuable revenue for your business or charity though a variety of income streams. If your charity is looking to buy-in experience and to give your fundraising a boost, we can help.

If you are looking to develop income from grant givers our services include desk research, bid preparation and submission.

With over 20 years fundraising experience we can help you plan and deliver your next fundraising event or campaign. For busy fundraising teams we can plan, develop and implement campaigns or events alongside your existing activities.

Read about how we helped CCPA take their Gold Ribbon Ball from an idea to raising thousands of pounds in three short years!

We help you build community and partnership relationships to drive income generation and volunteer recruitment. Bringing energy, imagination and contacts to every project, we help you to be more strategic with your partnerships; building connections that benefit all parties.

One of our key strengths is finding common ground and building mutually beneficial partnerships – especially between charities and corporate supporters.

Whether you are looking for gifts in kind, community groups to sample your new products or volunteers for a big fundraising event we can help!

Read more about how we sourced gifts for CCPA’s Childhood Cancer Awareness Month family party from corporate supporters from across the UK.

If you are fundraiser setting up an event, you will already know that much can be done with limited resources! That said, there are some basics that you must have in place before you open your shop doors. In this section we take you through these essentials.

Ensure that you have all the necessary paperwork to run the shop. Your organisation should have public liability cover, for instance. Take time to conduct a health and safety assessment. If you are serving food and drinks, do your staff and volunteers have the appropriate Food Hygiene certificates?

Music creates ambience and atmosphere but you will need to apply for TheMusicLicence from the PPL PRS if you are playing music in your shop. This will also cover you for any live music if you invite local buskers or bands to play during your event.

Every charity shop relies on donations, whether from individuals or local businesses donating surplus stock.

You may want to consider and plan a campaign in the months running up to your shop opening to secure and manage donations; where will you store donations, where will they be dropped off and what kind of donations will you want for the shop. If you are storing donations away from the shop, consider how will you transport them once your shop opens.

Charity shops are allowed to stock new items so you may buy in items to sell (but over 50% must be donated stock). Larger local retailers may donate surplus, out of season or ‘dead’ stock and be willing to support your cause in this way, especially if you can arrange to pick up items.

Sorting stock takes time and is best done ahead of set up of the shop if possible. You may want to recruit a volunteer with retail background to spot higher value donations and to pull out items that you will not be able to sell.

Once you have stock you will want to ensure that you have shop fittings to display your goods. If you are selling clothes and accessories, you will need robust and safe rails – volunteers may have domestic rails at home, but make sure the rails are strong enough to take heavy items, such as winter coats or long dresses.

You may find that local retailers may also be able to help with old mannequins or fittings that they no longer want.

To make sure your clothes stock is looking its best think about investing in a steamer to ‘spruce-up’ items before they go out on the shop floor. You will also need to price stock and pricing guns are a quick and easy way to do this.

Aim to have all stock priced up before the shop opens and before it goes out on the shop floor. This is especially important if you are lucky enough to have lots of volunteers helping as it saves confusion and means there is consistency in your pricing.

When planning your event consider the security of both your stock and staff or volunteers. There may be known shoplifters who are banned from other retail outlets in your area. Secure personal possessions (ensure there are no handbags behind the checkout) and keep the door to the back locked.

Pop-Up shops are an excellent vehicle for raising awareness of your charity and building your profile within your local community.

For an event to be a success you will need a strong, active marketing campaign that combines both traditional and digital media.

Talk to your local Chamber of Commerce or Town Centre Manager to collaborate with other stores, especially if your event is part of a wider awareness campaign. If your unit is within a larger shopping centre would the management’s marketing and PR team help promote your opening? Other shops may want to support your charity or organisation by offering discount vouchers; – buy something from the Pop-Up and get a discount at their store.

Why not ask a local celebrity, dignitary or ask service users to help open the shop? This will help secure more media interest and get more people interested in the event.

Create great content and publish across all your digital platforms. Use a calendar to plan your content that includes a countdown to shop opening, featured donations or stock, or content around creating a stylish new look from charity shop bargains. Include content that also illustrates why the Pop-Up shop is so important to your charity, whether fundraising or for an awareness campaign.

Use social media to create a buzz and once the Pop-Up shop opens, encourage customers to share their purchases on their own platforms.

You may want to offer discount vouchers or codes on your social platforms to encourage footfall on specific days or times.

Do not under-estimate traditional media, such as leaflet, posters or banners. If you are looking for an older customer base, then these will be a vital tool in reaching this demographic.

Combine this with guerrilla marketing. Take your postcards, leaflets or even old fashion sandwich-boards out onto the street to get your Pop-Up noticed!

If you want to engage with the print or broadcast media, then you will need to craft and send a Press Release. Make your press release clear and concise, and aim for a targeted message for each publication you approach, rather than a generic release.

Word of mouth is a very powerful and effective marketing tool. Get staff, volunteers, supporters and donors talking about how amazing you Pop-Up shop is going to be!

You may want to organise a special ‘exclusive’ shopping event for them or invite them to be social media ambassadors, giving them exclusive content to share on their platforms.

You will find a wealth of useful information of the Charity Retail Associate website.

The Institute of Fundraising has a resources and guidance on all aspects of fundraising.

Acopia offers free training in visual merchandising for charities.

TheMusicLicence is available from http://www.pplprs.co.uk/