BIG Business
The Big Issue Foundation engages with companies in a wide range of ways.
Partnerships often support objectives across Community, Marketing and
Inclusion and Diversity. The information below covers the range of opportunities that we currently offer,
but as a small organization with a big brand we are flexible and creative with our approach.
Please do let us know what appeals most to you, your employees and your stakeholders. From herre we
can work together to design a partnership that best meets your needs and supports our vendors.
Employee Engagement
Vendor Days – A real life experience for staff where they learn about the work of The Big Issue and The Big
Issue Foundation. During the day the group get to try their hand at street selling in the company of a
vendor at their pitch. During the day individuals get the opportunity to talk to their vendor and find out
more about their particular experiences of homelessness. The day is
fully facilitated by The Big Issue Foundation staff, and includes an
introductory presentation about what to expect, a visit at the pitch
and an interactive feedback session in the afternoon. The day offers
team building, sales skills development and support inclusion and
diversity objectives as it tackles misconceptions and raises
awareness of homelessness and related issues. See
http://www.bigissue.org.uk/get-involved/volunteer-days for a quote
from a member of HSBC staff who took part in one of these days.
Staff Talks – Stephen Robertson, CEO of The Big Issue Foundation,
John Bird, Founder & Editor in Chief, and local vendors, are all available for staff talks/event presentations
etc. Watch Stephen’s presentation to Simmons & Simmons here http://www.bigissue.org.uk/getinvolved/get-your-company-involved
Vendor Placements – Some partners offer an in-house placement to vendors to sell the magazine to staff
and guests. Vendors are selected to suit the profile of the organisation, and partners are selected based on
their interest in providing support to the vendor, helping them to get a valuable experience in a corporate
work environment and develop skills that can help them along their journey away from the streets. The Big
Issue Foundation’s Vendor Services team will work closely with your team and the vendor to ensure the
success of the placement. Read some endorsements of the Vendor Placements programme here
http://www.bigissue.org.uk/get-involved/vendor-placements
Corporate Subscriptions – Pre-order copies of the magazine to be read by staff and guests. The magazines
are posted to your premises every week enabling you to provide your staff with quality reading material
whilst knowing that you are supporting a leading social enterprise. http://www.bigissue.com/supporters
Sponsorship
Themed Weeks – The Big Issue Foundation runs a series of weeks through the year focusing on sales and
money, health and aspirations. The information and training sessions during the weeks act as focus points
for engagement with vendors. Donations of time, skills and products from partners for the weeks enable us
to provide vendors with much needed information and items to help the vendors put what they learn into
action. http://www.bigissue.org.uk/news/2013/october/31/health-week-2013
http://www.bigissue.org.uk/news/2013/september/6/sales-and-money-week-report
Vendor Services – The Big Issue Foundation has staff in a range of locations across England and corporate
donations can be linked to the provision of support to vendors in a particular area. This approach enables
us to measure the precise impact your funds have in the lives of vendors. You may choose to support a
Vendor Services Manager working in London to support vendors on their journey away from homelessness,
or our street team volunteers who support new vendors with training and sales advice. We can arrange for
the relevant team members to come to quarterly meetings to update staff on their work and the local
homelessness situation. Scroll down to “What We Fund” here to read more
http://www.bigissue.org.uk/about-us
Events – As outlined below we run a portfolio of events through the year which are attended by a range of
supporters. We are happy to discuss flexible sponsorship options for these events depending on your
objectives so that we can raise awareness of the brand alignment between our organisations.
Employee Fundraising
Managed Events – We run a varied programme of events and campaigns which staff can get involved with.
These include events organised by The Big Issue Foundation such as Big Sleep Outs and The Big Knitathon (a
national campaign where groups get together to knit squares to go in our giant blanket and fundraise). We
also work with external providers to deliver managed events such as London to Paris bike ride, The Big
Jump (parachute jump day), London Marathon and Ride London 100. http://www.bigissue.org.uk/events
Individual Events - We encourage and support staff in holding their own events and activities. These can
be office based or external and can range from cake sales to quiz nights and wine tasting. We provide a
variety of ideas and fundraising tips and plans, including a fundraising guide, and can develop a calendar of
events so there is a different fundraising idea, along with relevant resources, every month.
Bespoke Events – We are happy to discuss options to develop a bespoke event for your staff. This could be
a London based event or national campaign or competition to try to engage clients too. We would like to
discuss your ideas and objectives with you to ensure we are producing the most suitable activity and
sharing our events experience.
Payroll Giving – Payroll giving is similar to regular giving but run through salaries so the donation is taken
before tax. If you don’t currently offer payroll giving we would propose running a one off campaign under
the banner ‘Donate an Hour’.
Volunteering
We recognise that your staff may have time and skills that could be very valuable to us. There are
numerous ways for them to engage with us such as acting as ambassadors for The Big Issue Foundation
with their community groups, networks, or even local schools. Other roles are dependent on the changing
requirements of the organisation and how we can work to develop ways to address these with you.
The Big Issue Magazine
Advertising – Working in partnership with Dennis Publishing, partners of The Big Issue Foundation are
often able to access favourably priced advertising in the magazine. The Big Issue has a weekly circulation of
105,000 and detailed information on the readership is
available from the team at Dennis Publishing.
www.bigissue.com
To discuss the options that are most relevant to you contact:
Kathryn Drake
Head of Corporate and Community Fundraising
THE BIG ISSUE FOUNDATION
T: 020 7526 3452 M: 07876 214 551
E: kathryn.drake@bigissue.com
1 - 5 Wandsworth Road, London. SW8 2LN
www.bigissue.org.uk