From company to social enterprise - a case study

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Travel2Give is an innovative new concept, launched by The Travel Division Community Interest Company based in Kilmarnock, Scotland.

From business to charity fundraiser

The Travel Division was created in 2004. In its first two years it operated as a homeworking travel agency and thereafter as a small high street operator. The company operated a conventional business model with modest success.

In 2007 we started to work with a local charity who sent sick children on respite holidays with their families. It was rewarding work and we became increasingly involved on the fundraising side in addition to organising their travel. Over time we became ‘hooked’ and as the charity’s supporters started to buy their holidays from us, we started to donate a percentage of the profits made on the bookings back to the charity.

Eventually, through the creation of an online affiliate network for them, we came to realise just how powerful affiliate travel and holiday spend could be as a fundraising tool. Holiday expenditure is often the largest non-essential element in a family’s annual budget. We were often contributing over £50 from just one booking and the ‘how much can we make?’ was soon overtaken by ‘how much can we raise!’

A new venture

Towards the end of 2007, the company started planning for a new venture which would build an enterprise in itself around the fundraising potential of the idea. The concept was given a new name - Travel2Give. But how would an established commercial model like retail travel convert to the third sector? There seemed to be little precedent to go on.

We spent the first half of 2008 developing the concept with potential charity partners and launched our first website on 12 May. We also sought sponsorship from some of the big tour operators and cruiselines, initially receiving a great deal of support from some leading names in the travel Industry like P&O, If Only, Holidays4U, Cunard and US Airtours.

In total, nine tour operators and cruiselines agreed to support our initiative with a donation of their own if we sold their holiday and others seemed keen to join us. In many cases, we created donations worth in excess of 5 per cent of holiday value, making Travel2Give a high yielding programme of its type.

Gift Aid

One of the key differentials of the Travel2Give programme is the ability of its donations to attract Gift Aid. When the customer buys from us in support of their charity, our model returns our net profits and an additional tour operator discount to them. The donation is their property which we forward to their chosen charity on their behalf.

We already have a 'chosen charity' and a Gift Aid Compatibility Registration is passed to the charity with the donation. In effect, the customer buys the added value of a charitable donation as part of their holiday purchase. The company also promotes and manages a Sponsorable Adventures Programme on behalf of its charity partners.

Charity partnerships

It certainly wasn’t an easy start. Many charities were sceptical of our motive and concerned about the exploitation of their brand for a commercial purpose. Despite this, by November 2008, over 15 charities had become Travel2Give Partners and interest has continued to grow into 2009 as charities see this as another way to maintain their income streams in difficult times. The company plans to increase its charity partnerships to around 60 by the end of 2009. By the end of May 2009, 14 tour operators and cruiselines appeared on the sponsorship list.

Becoming a Community Interest Company

Towards the end of 2008, The Travel Division no longer saw itself primarily as a travel agent, rather as a fundraising enterprise focussed on helping charities and communities benefit from its travel sales operation. The company applied for a change of status from a Limited to a charitable Community Interest Company and this was granted.

We are one of only a handful of companies in the travel industry who have been prepared to adopt non profit making status. In addition to providing funding for charities and creating employment, Travel2Give have also partnered with our local college in Kilmarnock to provide 18 travel and tourism students with work experience which is actually a planned part of the curriculum.

What's next for Travel2Give

As we are based in Scotland, the majority of our charities so far are Scottish based. However, we have now started to engage with UK charities and have launched an initiative on Skytext in partnership with Hospice Aid UK. Customers can book from anywhere in the UK and their donation goes ‘back home’ to their local hospice.

Our first large national charity partnerships will commence in the Autumn with two household names who have already committed to the programme.

Large or small, we look for charity partners who are active, enterprising and prepared to work hard to communicate Travel2Give to their affiliates. We can produce amazing donation outcomes from everyday spend that was previously out of a charity’s reach, and, as our holiday prices are really competitive, the customer gets a great deal too. Everyone wins!

Opportunities for growth

Looking ahead, we sees many opportunities for growth despite the current financial climate. In just under a year, we have transformed a small retail travel business into a fast growing fundraising company with seven staff. The early signs are that this is, indeed, a new way to build a growing travel enterprise despite the ‘credit crunch’.

Indeed, we seem to be building a new model that is creating interest beyond the travel industry – how many existing conventional business models could be transformed if they converted to Community Interest and added the value of a charity donation or community contribution to their product offer? We would like to see our concept extend to new business sectors and have taken one or two tentative early steps in that direction.

The pundits tell us that people will continue to travel through the recession, and we certainly seem to be adding real value for the increasing number of people who are booking with us. We see no reason why we cannot reach our target of £1million to good causes by 2012.

How you can work with Travel2Give

Find out how your organisation can work with Travel2Give.

Useful links

• Community Interest Companies
• Gift Aid help

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