Cash for the Community was originally launched as a way to offer financial support to local community groups* as well as help raise awareness of the great work they do. The Cambridge Building Society is once again working with the Cambridge News to give away the huge cash sum to 15 local community based not-for-profit organisations.
The £12,000 comes from the Cambridge’s donations budget which is built up from a match-funding scheme in place as part of its commitment to the local community.
The campaign has evolved over the years and now readers not only play a part in determining how much each group receives but also have a say on which groups are chosen as beneficiaries.
Community groups need to put themselves forward by filling in an application form which is available online here. From the entries received the team at The Cambridge will select 10 groups to be in the running to receive a share of the £12,000. The remaining five places will be put to an online public vote.
Once the 15 groups have been chosen, it’s down to readers, the local community and supporters of the successful groups to come together and collect as many tokens printed in the Cambridge News as possible. Last year more than 6,000 tokens were collected and the highest share of the pot went to HPC MS Therapy Centre which received £2,162.31. The Cambridge upped the pot slightly to ensure no group went home with less than £250.
This year there will be a bonus downloadable token towards the end of the collection window which will be worth five paper tokens and will appear on the Cambridge News website. At the end of the campaign the value of each token collected will be calculated and the money divided in relation to how many tokens were sent in for each group.
The Cambridge’s Chief Executive Stephen Mitcham, says “Team members at The Cambridge make this campaign possible and everyone appreciates being able to give something back. By volunteering their own time to support and help our local communities, we are able to match fund their time, which is how we are able to donate such a significant sum.
“We continue to develop the ways in which we support the community and The Cambridge Cash for the Community campaign is an example of how we can help a wide range of wonderful causes.
“If there is a charity or community group you feel could really use some extra funds then please make sure you let them know about this campaign. I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone the best of luck and I hope that once again the readers of the Cambridge News get behind one of the 15 successful organisations and collect tokens to help them get a major share of the £12,000.”
How will it work?
Whether you are a charity, community group, school or community club that operates within the Cambridge News distribution area, you could be in with a chance of receiving funding from The Cambridge Building Society.
All you need to do is fill in the application form which is available to download from The Cambridge website here. The form can be sent to The Cambridge Cash for the Community campaign, The Cambridge Building Society, PO Box 232, 51 Newmarket Road, Cambridge, CB5 8FF by 5pm on Monday 2nd July 2018.
Team members from The Cambridge will then choose 10 groups from all of the eligible applications.
The panel will also pick another 10 groups who will each be given a chance to take one of the final five spaces. This will be down to an online public vote that will appear on the social media accounts of The Cambridge Building Society and Cambridge News from Wednesday 11th July 2018.
The poll will close at midnight on Wednesday 18th July 2018 and the five groups with the most votes will join the other 10 groups to become the final 15.
These 15 successful groups will be notified by email and sent a marketing pack that will provide hints and tips on how to best promote their group during the campaign. Social media will play a big part in the promotion of the campaign so ‘Follow’ @cambridgebs and @cambnewsUK on Twitter and ‘Like’ both pages on Facebook at www.facebook.com/yourcambridge
Starting on Monday 23rd July 2018, each of the 15 organisations will be profiled in the Cambridge News. The first of the tokens will appear in the Cambridge News on Tuesday 24th July 2018. The remaining tokens will appear daily up until and including Friday 10th August 2018. There will also be a bonus digital token to download which will be worth five tokens and available on the Cambridge News. Keep an eye on social media to find out when this will be live.
Readers of the Cambridge News and supporters of the successful groups need to cut out as many of the tokens as they can on behalf of one of the 15 successful groups and take them into one of The Cambridge Building Society’s branches or one of the Cambridge News offices. The tokens must be received no later than midnight Friday 17th August 2018. A form to complete detailing how many coupons you’ve collected and which group these are for will be available to download or cut out of the Cambridge News.
The total number of tokens will then be divided by 12,000 which will indicate how much each token is worth. Each of the organisation’s tokens will then be counted and the total sum will be given out to each of the organisations in ‘The Cambridge Cash for the Community’ cheque presentation which will be held in September.
Full details of the campaign, key dates and terms and conditions are available to view at www.cambridgebs.co.uk/cash-for-the-community
*A full list of eligible groups is detailed in the campaign terms and conditions.
Key dates:
· Time to get your application in: before Monday 2nd July 2018 (Deadline 5pm)
· Team members from The Cambridge choose the first ten beneficiaries: Tuesday 3rd July 2018 – Tuesday 10th July 2018
· Public decides on final five (via online poll): Wednesday 11th July 2018 – Midnight Wednesday 18th July 2018
· Successful groups contacted and profiled in Cambridge News: Starting on Monday 23rd July 2018
· First token appears alongside form to cut out with chosen group on: Tuesday 24th July 2018
· Last token appears along with repeat of form with chosen group details on to complete: Friday 10th August
· Bonus token is available to download: Monday 13th August- Friday 17th August 2018
· Final day to hand in paper tokens: Midnight Friday 17th August 2018
· Cheque presentation to take place: Week Commencing 3rd September 2018