Work Avenue, the community’s leading employment and business support charity, enlisted the help of a team of ambassadors to help them reach their target in their first ever crowdfunding campaign held the weekend before Rosh Hashana, a time when many people focus on their charitable giving.  The Finchley based charity was aiming to raise an ambitious target of £750,000 in just 36 hours – from 10am on Sunday morning until 10pm on Monday evening – in order to be able to continue their work helping members of the community earn a living with dignity.  The campaign was triple matched by a group of generous donors.   This meant that for every pound pledged, the charity received £3 to enable them to continue their work to help people get a job or start and grow a business.

Said Debbie Sheldon, Work Avenue’s CEO: Our previous fundraising had focused on the traditional approaches of a fundraising dinner and the generosity of community partners.  Advances in technology and online platforms have given us the opportunity to engage with so many more friends in the community, including our employer community who offer jobs to our clients, our small business community and our clients themselves, so many of whom have asked us for a way to give back now that they are earning a living.  Crowdfunding has given us the perfect vehicle for this, and at the same time reach so many new people through a team of Work Avenue ambassadors, each of whom set their own personal target to raise funds.”

Based at Work Avenue’s shared work space, WE Hub, a call centre was established with the teams using a variety of means to reach out to existing and new donors throughout the 36-hour marathon.  One such ambassador was WE Hub member Benny Wagner, CEO of Risk Reports.  He commented: “It has been amazing being a part of this campaign.  The atmosphere was incredible with so many people hitting the phones and reaching out to their contacts.  I was so humbled by the generosity of my network.”

And the results spoke for themselves.  The £750,000 target was reached by 6pm, four hours before the end of the campaign.  A hasty bonus round was implemented, double matched by another group of donors, with the final results at close of business showing in excess of £1 million.  Debbie Sheldon added: “We were completely staggered and delighted to raise so much money and are so grateful for the overwhelming generosity of the community.  We had over 2200 individual donations, which showed us just how far our message reached.  We help over 2000 people every year earn a living with dignity.  These badly needed funds will allow us to help so many more.”

ABOUT WORK AVENUE

Work Avenue offers support to the entire community helping people earn a living through getting a job or growing a business.  Work Avenue run WE Hub, the community’s first Employment and Business Hub, comprising offices, meeting rooms, shared work-space, training rooms and a café.  Work Avenue aims to put the importance of helping people into jobs and sustainable employment firmly on the map and at the forefront of our minds as a community.

For further information, contact:
jo@theworkavenue.org.uk
020 8371 3280