Category: Fundraising

Committing to the Community: Mango’s Local Sponsorships 

Posted on by Mango

Here at Mango, we’re big, big advocates for promoting the local community to help it prosper.  

So, we’re always looking for new ways we can play a part in the bigger picture, by giving local organisations and associations alike a well-deserved boost to create new opportunities and maximise civic pride. 

As such, we’ve been pretty busy making waves with NI-based charities and clubs, finding out how we can aid them in making their hopes, dreams and missions a reality.  

You may have seen us in the news the last couple of months, with the announcement of our corporate partnership with local charity NI Children to Lapland and Days to Remember Trust to expand the reach of their impactful work for children (more on that later!). 

Well, we have recently added another much-loved organisation to our roster… 

Bangor Football Club 

Last week, we announced our brand-new local sponsorship deal with Bangor Football Club!  

The club, founded in 1918 and based in Clandeboye Park, has an extensive and impressive history that we are proud to now be a part of.  

The club has come a long way with developing the stadium grounds and league teams, as well as invoking a strong sense of community amongst football fans across the city and beyond – something we are super excited to join in an official capacity. 

Bangor FC Chairman, Graham Bailie, said: “We are delighted to secure the support of Mango, which is a high-profile company with well-established links in the city. 

“Mango shares the ambitions of the football club as they are renowned for consistently striving to set high standards and delivering excellent results. We are thrilled to have them onboard as we continue our journey and I look forward to working with them and seeing how we can strengthen our relationship moving forward.” 

Mango CEO, Stuart Lally, said: “As a family-owned business rooted in the local community, we’re incredibly proud to sponsor Bangor FC. This partnership aligns seamlessly with our work culture of being happy, friendly, diligent and delivering results. 

“Just as the Bangor players strive for victory on the field, Mango is striving to set a high standard, delivering excellent results for our customers, whilst supporting our loyal team and driving a positive ethical culture. 

“We wish the team continued success in their matches this season and we are looking forward to seeing the players in action over the coming weeks.” 

With local charities and the community at the heart of our business strategy year-on-year, we have had the pleasure of working with lots of other amazing organisations and associations. Some for only a couple of months so far – and others for over a decade! 

NI Children to Lapland and Days to Remember Trust 

If you’ve been keeping up with us for the past few months, you might have noticed in October 2023, the Mango team went on their biggest venture yet – a sponsored ‘Walk to Scotland’!  

The annual event, coordinated by the NI Children to Lapland team, exists to help raise funds to give terminally ill, life-limited and deserving children the trip of a lifetime to visit Santa in his hometown of Rovaniemi, Lapland. 

The team raised close to £1,000 in support of the charity, and led to the announcement of our official corporate partnership in December. 

Commenting on our motivation for initiating a partnership with the charity, Stuart said: “We were deeply moved by the amazing experiences the NI Children to Lapland and Days to Remember Trust has provided to local children since its inception in 2008.  

“Our team at Mango is extremely passionate about contributing to the community and supporting local charities. Whether it’s through sponsorship, volunteering, or fundraising – we are dedicated to helping worthy causes thrive to benefit more people in need.” 

We’ve also got lots of fundraising plans in the works for the year ahead, so keep your eyes peeled for what we do next! Here’s a hint… 

Abbey Villa Football Club 

Mango has been a key sponsor for Abbey Villa Football Club, located in Adam’s Park, Millisle, for over 10 years now!  

Throughout our time as sponsor of the Northern Amateur Football League (Division 1A) team, we have keenly watched the club evolve from strength to strength with countless triumphant wins, supplying new season kits and, most recently, a spectator stand to keep up with audience demand.  

We’re so proud of the team and how far they’ve come. We can’t wait to see how it progresses over the next 10 years! 

The Barn Animal Rescue 

Based in Newtownards, The Barn Animal Rescue is a remarkable charity that rescue cruelly treated or abandoned animals; rehoming to their forever families to experience love and care for life.  

With help from the wider community, the charity can carry out vital animal welfare work. This is something we are extremely passionate about – as The Barn holds a special place in our hearts here at Mango – with lots of our staff having them to thank for their own furry companions! 

From fundraising and donating items in need right through to volunteering, the Mango team support the charity on a repeated basis, with plans to increase our efforts and initiate set volunteer days to provide much-needed assistance (and play with the puppies, of course!).  

Storehouse North Down

Storehouse North Down exists, as a charity, to be a real answer for families and individuals who have no safety net. It is supported by local churches, community groups, businesses and individuals alike to fight food poverty across Bangor, North Down and beyond. 

Mango helps this incredible charity through donating essential items for emergency food hampers. Our biggest being the Christmas collection – where we supplied multiple trolleys worth of food and gifts for the Storehouse team to assemble and deliver Christmas dinners and presents to those in need. 

We have further plans to give back to the local community through Storehouse North Down, so watch this space!

Mango’s Continued Commitment to the Community 

There’s plenty more where that came from…but we might be here a while listing all the other charities and clubs we’ve worked with over the last 15 years! 

With our CSR mission continuing to grow, we are always looking for new ways to aid non-profit organisations and grassroots groups to spread their positive work. If you’re interested in partnering up with a company like us, or need support in reaching your charity or club’s goals – feel free to talk to the Mango team today. 

Fundraising Services: How to Maximise Your Charity’s Work  

Posted on by Mango
fundraising services featured image

It’s a New Year, making it the perfect time to reimagine alternative ways you can make waves with your charity’s important work.  

No matter how grand or modest the campaign, fundraising is essential to keep charities going from strength to strength during tough times. 

For example, in 2023, 60% of people in the UK struggled to give to charity compared to the year before due to the cost-of-living crisis. 

With the mountainous task of trying to secure and increase funds, it’s therefore no surprise why charities lean on outsourced, specialist companies to help boost income. Not only this, but agency support can also see charities maximise their internal resources and cement strong relationships with new and existing donors. 

What are Fundraising Services? 

While it may seem niche, fundraising services are pretty broad! 

For example, there’s everything from consulting and strategic planning right through to call handling and fulfilment management.  

In our case, the fundraising sector is one of Mango’s largest, where we deliver everything from small to large scale telemarketing campaigns, encompassing everything from response handling, live chat, email, to good old reliable telecon!   

We are so fortunate to play a part in supporting fundraising for so many lifechanging organisations locally, nationally, and internationally. 

Here’s a few ways we do it, and how these services can help maximise your charity’s intake and overall operations.  

Telephone Fundraising 

Telephone has long been at the heart of fundraising, providing a direct connection between supporters and their chosen charity, and vice versa. We usually divide telephone campaign types into inbound (supporter to charity) and outbound (charity to supporter). 

For inbound campaigns – which relate to calls being made by supporters in response to charity appeals such as telethons, newspaper ads, direct mail etc. – it can be difficult to estimate impact and volume. Having an external fundraising team that acts like an extension of your team can help in many ways, such as: 

  • Saving the charity money 
  • Giving inhouse teams more availability to work on other upcoming projects 
  • Boosting answer rates by accepting calls on your behalf 
  • Establishing relationships with supporters 
  • Processing one-off donations and upgrading existing Direct Debit amounts  
  • Capturing data to expand the charity’s donor database with full compliance at the forefront 

As well as taking the weight off, giving your wider team peace of mind and allowing you to better focus on other essential tasks to optimise success. 

With outbound campaigns, this type of fundraising service involves reaching out to supporters to re-engage lapsed donors, upgrade monthly donations, or even just say thank you for previous giving.  

This is a specialist type of campaign which requires an experienced team. At Mango, our team are highly skilled and trained to interact with supporters in a friendly, effortless and considerate way, something that can reap plenty of great rewards for charity clients.  

Fulfilment and Response Handling 

Charities make a huge impact through their investment in print communications (such as door drops and direct mailings). 

However, with this successful method, comes a lot of careful steps that need to be mastered to ensure a prompt and seamless service – something which, without external support, can put a strain on a charity’s internal operations. 

That’s where charity fulfilment and response handling services come in to help. 

From printing and packaging right through to payment processing and posting returns – fulfilment and response handling are intricate procedures which need to be perfected by a team with expert knowledge and experience. 

In our time, we have seen charities come to us to make use of this type of fundraising service for the following purposes: 

  • Storage of branded merchandise and promotional materials 
  • Printing, picking, packing and posting 
  • Data entering and validation in-line with GDPR and ISO 9001 standards 
  • Payments e.g. managing cheques and linking with credit cards processors to take donations securely 
  • Reporting e.g. bespoke income reports and copy scans for full transparency and insight 

Whether your charity requires ad hoc or full-time support with this fundraising area – we understand that every little helps – and that’s why Mango offers a flexible model, meaning that we can always quickly adapt and give you the peace of mind that, as your fulfilment and response handling partner, we will take care of all your needs. 

Find out more about response handling by checking out our blog: What are Response Handling Services? + 3 Benefits 

SMS Fundraising 

Fundraising via text message has long been a staple for its speediness and ease of use for the supporter. For the charity, it’s a modest technology tool that’s effective, inexpensive and practical. 

Fundraising efforts using texting services achieve a 45% response rate, making it a key focus for charities big and small to implement. With SMS fundraising being a high demand yet specialist area, many charities seek additional help from a third party like us to ensure everything is covered from writing message contents, segmenting distribution lists, following compliance and conducting call backs. 

At Mango Direct Marketing, we have worked with lots of charities across the world to create and deliver tailored, integrated SMS campaigns that generate positive, tangible results.  

With this, we can assist at any capacity – whether it be giving advice on SMS strategies to implementing our intuitive tech to help you see an instant ROI boost.  

At Mango, our extensive services give charities the freedom to concentrate on achieving their goals and missions, while we take care of the rest. If you are considering lightening the load by outsourcing a fundraising service agency, then feel free to talk to Mango and we’ll give you a full rundown of how we can help. 

Giving Back to the Community – Why it Matters 

Posted on by Mango
giving back to the community featured image - man helping woman by putting shopping bags in trolley for food bank

Supporting the local community is becoming a growing priority for companies both big and small.  

Why? Because giving back to the community – whether it be through volunteering or fundraising – comes with lots of benefits for all involved. In this blog, we dive deep into these many advantages, and detail why it matters to play an active part in helping your local area flourish!  

Why is it Important to Give Back to the Community? 

Whether it be donating time or raising funds – even the smallest of tasks can make a real difference to the lives of people, animals and organisations in need.  

Not only that, but another pro of being community-focused is the positive impact it makes on staff morale and future business prospects.  

Without further ado, let’s get into what you can expect from upping your CSR efforts… 

Encourages Team Bonding 

Regardless of the size of your company, making a team effort to support a local cause or improve your surroundings will instil a sense of reward and unity among your staff. 

We know from experience that coming together as a team over a meaningful purpose (e.g. for the betterment of something/benefit of others) has created lifelong memories and friendships within our team.  

Some highlights include challenges like Tough Mudder, sponsored head shaves and a 10-mile walk from Holywood-Bangor in aid of local charities, volunteering at nearby animal shelters and food banks, as well as doing beach cleans to reduce pollution and protect the environment. 

With taking part in events like these regularly, we see closer bonds among the team, as well as with other like-minded people from the community. It also helps employees feel greater satisfaction in their job, and embeds a stronger sense of company pride and advocacy.  

See similar: Work Wellbeing: Changing Your Employees From Staff to Family

mango giving back to the community volunteering at The Barn Animal Rescue - two woman and one man holding puppy
The Mango team volunteering at The Barn Animal Rescue

Learn More About the World 

Getting your team to spend time enriching the community and meeting new people is a brilliant way to broaden their perceptions and learn new life skills.  

Immersing in a community and serving others in need helps your employees better understand people’s circumstances, gives them a more open-minded perspective, improves their communication skills and teaches patience and empathy – all of which will enhance other areas in their life. 

What’s more, is that giving back to the community may even help your staff unlock a new passion, hobby or interest – something they will appreciate and reflect upon positively in the future. So, not only are you contributing to their professional development, but their personal development, too! 

Mango’s 10-mile walk from Holywood-Bangor for charity

Helps Those in Need 

Without volunteers or sponsors, a huge portion of the help our communities receive would not be so readily available. 

By spending time assisting at local shelters or food banks, or even doing a whip-round of donations in the office, this support not only gives those offering a sense of accomplishment, but it most importantly provides an essential service to less fortunate neighbours. 

With more resources helping those in need, this combats and reduces the key issue being experienced in the community. The more people feel a sense of reward, the more momentum is spread, and the more positive differences are made to make the community a better place. 

See similar: 4 Ways Businesses Can Support Charities 

Improves Company Reputation 

These days, more and more people are making conscious choices to work for and work with companies who share their values and have a strong CSR strategy in place.  

For example, businesses with a strong community presence often attract top talent. Plus, engaged employees who participate in community initiatives are more likely to remain, fostering a positive, stable workplace culture. 

Long-term involvement in community development also builds credibility and reputation. Businesses that invest their time and resources become genuine collaborators in community development, making significant positive impacts that create lasting impressions to local and national onlookers, which can help with securing new business. 

Where to Start with Giving Back to the Community?

There are so many important causes out there that always need fundraisers, volunteers or sponsors to support the work they’re doing. Many towns and cities have community centres, which can be a great place to start to search for new opportunities to give back. 

To get your staff invested, you can ask for their suggestions via focus groups or questionnaires. At Mango, we make this a focus each quarter, so everyone gets a chance to put their ideas forward and contribute to something they’re passionate about.   

You can also check websites like local Chambers of Commerce or councils for opportunities that fit your goals. Another alternative is joining local groups on Facebook so you can easily engage with others nearby and get feedback on where is in need of help.  

No matter how big or small your efforts are in giving back to the community, we can guarantee you and your team will reap lots of social, professional and personal rewards. 

Whether you want more pointers or have more questions on how to get started, feel free to talk to the Mango team today! 

4 Ways Businesses Can Support Charities 

Posted on by Mango

Supporting charities brings many benefits that go beyond that feel-good factor.  

For example – working with charities can create team building opportunities, strike up new partnerships, enhance corporate identity and boost staff morale – to name just a few! 

Whether it is for the above reasons or not, companies big and small have the power to make a real difference. 

It may sound like a big task – but nowadays it is easier than ever to support charities in a variety of ways! With plenty of tried and tested methods, you can trust us at Mango to advise on some of the best ways your business can be more charitable! 

Think Outside the (Donation) Box 

If there’s anything we’ve learned over the years, it is that gone are the days where you can rely on donation boxes being scattered around the office! 

While they are still handy to have, these days, businesses and individuals alike need to think bigger and quirkier in order to spark interest.  

It’s the creative fundraising ideas that stick in people’s minds: they build anticipation and make lasting memories for those taking part.  

But where to start? Inspiration can be found everywhere and anywhere – especially online! In a world of crowdfunding and viral challenges, social media in particular is an ever-evolving hub of creative ideas. But it all comes down to choosing the best fit for your company or charity. 

At Mango, we’ve done everything you can think of! From marathons, mud runs, baking competitions, fancy dress days, challenges, jumble sales, charity shop runs with our company van, and so much more! 

Get Staff Members Involved 

If you want to know what will get people excited and engaged, the simple thing to do is ask them directly! 

If you give everyone a chance to nominate (either by online survey or pieces of paper in a hat – whatever’s easiest!) then you know you’ll be supporting a charity that’s close to your employees’ hearts. 

You can also create a charity committee within your company, where staff members can collaborate to come up with fresh ideas and encourage others to take part in fundraising activities. This helps to spread responsibility and get more people ramped up! 

Here at Mango, we have a dedicated Employee Engagement group who meet every month to discuss and plan activities, with a charity focus always at the forefront of everything we do! 

Consider The Time of Year 

Approaching things from a seasonal perspective can really help with planning, as well as prioritising certain charities and events that align with your company’s values. 

What’s handy is that if you research online, you’ll find that almost every month has a charitable focus. To help you get started, we’ve listed a few events that happen each month of the year – but be sure to check in with your favourite charities on what their plans are! 

  • January: Dry January, Love Your Liver Month, Cervical Cancer Prevention Week 
  • February: National Heart Month, World Cancer Day, Time to Talk Day, Rare Disease Day 
  • March: Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, International Day of Happiness 
  • April: Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, Stress Awareness Month, MS Awareness Week 
  • May: Action on Stroke Month, National Walking Month, Deaf Awareness Week, Mental Health Awareness Week 
  • June: Carers Week, Men’s Health Week, Cervical Screening Week, Diabetes Week, Breathe Easy Week 
  • July: 24/7 Samaritans (The Big Listen), World Hepatitis Day 
  • August: Cycle to Work Day 
  • September: Urology Awareness Month, Migraine Awareness Week, World Suicide Prevention Day, National Fitness Day 
  • October: Breast Cancer Awareness Month, National Cholesterol Month, Dyslexia Awareness Week, World Mental Health Day 
  • November: National Stress Awareness Week, World Diabetes Day, World COPD Day, Movember 
  • December: World AIDS Day, International Day of Persons with Disability 

PS – you can find lots more through useful sites such as Awareness Days and many more!  

Most Importantly, Have Fun!

We understand that supporting charities is serious business. But, the best way to get people involved and invested is by making the journey as fun as possible! 

Think about it – the wackier the idea – the more people will ask questions. The more conversations you have with people about your plans, the more you can spread the word and entice people to partake. 

As we mentioned before, charity events are a brilliant way to get teams from other departments mingling and bonding. So the more effort you put in, the better it is for everyone involved. 

What’s Next for Mango?

On Thursday 25th May, our very own Team Leader Operator Sheila and her sister Keaver will be shaving their heads and donating their hair “to bring a smile to a child with a simple gesture that we take for granted every day”. 

To support them, we will also be hosting a few challenges and activities, such as: 

  • A #OneChipChilliChallenge, to see who out of our volunteers can handle the hotness! 
  • A sponsored wax and shave 
  • A fancy-dress team walk from Holywood to Bangor 

If you wish to/are able to donate, you can do so via our Facebook Fundraiser.

Other Ways You Can Support Charities

For more advice on ways you can support charities, talk to Mango today or check out our socials to see what we get up to: