In 2009, we decided we wanted to start raising money for a range of charities. To keep joining fees as low as possible, all members have to join using the company’s website. So the simple idea was to add one additional question to the sign-up process:

‘Would you like to make a one-off donation to our charity of the month?’

Members then choose how much to donate which is added to their first month’s gym payment.

How did it start?

It was triggered by the fact we were receiving a number of requests from members to organise Charitable events in our gyms. We thought we needed to put some structure behind that and set up some evaluation process to help us decide whether we should support a specific Charity. So the process now starts at a local gym level, supporting local Charities.

Project results

This simple request to members has created a big impact. The company now collects between £5,000 – £7,000 ($7,500 – $10,500) every month which is passed to a Charity of the Month selected by staff. That’s a whopping £60,000 – £84,000 ($90,000 – $126,000) over the course of a year.