Running a charity shop isn’t always the easiest job, especially when you find yourself struggling for donations. This doesn’t just mean money; a lot of charity shops find themselves low on stock as people stop donating their unwanted stuff.

Successful charity shops are those that offer the same things that any other retail does – high quality products at a good price. This, along with brilliant customer service, is the reason for why some charity retail stores do so well.

We’ve focused a lot on how to successfully encourage people into charity shops to spend money, but what about those who donate things in the first place? How can you encourage more donations? This is a huge concern for a lot of smaller charity shops – especially in an age where selling sites have become very popular.

Effective Campaigns

Organising an effective campaign could be the difference between getting a few donations and getting lots. You can use the time of the year to your advantage, starting right now in January. Here are some examples of campaigns that have been used before and have been very successful.

• Unwanted presents – January is the perfect time to start a campaign for more donations as people have lots of unwanted items lying around their house. This could be unwanted presents that people have been given that they feel rude returning, or items that they no longer need due to newer items. Whatever the case, it’s the perfect time of year to appeal for new donations.
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• Spring clean – A lot of people choose to de-clutter their house around spring time, something that is now referred to as a ‘spring clean’. This makes it the perfect time to appeal for more donations as people will have a lot more stuff they no longer want.

A good campaign is one that is advertised and promoted brilliantly. This may involve doing so over social media – something that has become a lot more popular in the last decade. Other ways include adverts in places where they will get the most exposure such as bus stops or on buses.

Obviously, there are lots of other ways in which you can encourage people to donate more. We will be covering these in later blog posts so please keep checking back!

Are you thinking of starting up your own charity shop? We can help you keep on top of your sales and stock with one of our fantastic EPoS systems.

For more information on our charity retail systems, please don’t hesitate to contact us. You can give us a call on 01204 706 000 and a member of our team will be happy to help.

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