It's a fact of life that charities need money to operate. In good times, it's not always easy to encourage people to part with their hard earned cash. In times of recession, it's tricky to say the least. With the world currently in the grip of financial crisis, that age-old expression 'charity begins at home' has never been more pertinent. The net result. One of the first things to go are charitable donations. So how exciting is it to learn about Cleversquirrel.
Cleversquirrel unearths money you may not know you had. There's literally tens of millions of pounds of it available each year. Amazingly, it only takes a single signature from you for Cleversquirrel to gain a share of it for donation to good causes.
With access to new money, when 'times are tough', there's absolutely no need for anyone to 'give up on giving'! Here's the source of the money.
Hidden in many investment, pension and insurance policies are charges that can be claimed by an adviser. If you don't have an adviser for your policy, you're paying for something and getting nothing. Your money stays with the financial institution and cannot be cancelled or refunded. Cleversquirrel is registered with the Financial Services Authority. It reclaims these charges and donates them to charity, making the most of money you've already paid.
At first, you might feel a little upset. Financial institutions keeping all that money. Well, it really isn't their intention to keep it. The fact is, if you don't nominate an adviser for your policy, the provider doesn't have anyone to pay the money to. It simply holds onto it until you tell them who you'd like to receive it. And that's where Cleversquirrel comes in. Reclaiming it for donation to charity. Making the most of money that's otherwise lost forever. It's the right thing to do. And Cleversquirrel makes it really easy.
You sign one form giving Cleversquirrel your authority to reclaim any available charges. Then you list your policy numbers, so Cleversquirrel knows which companies to approach. But you only list policies where you don't have an adviser. For if you're currently receiving help with a policy, then the charges are most likely being claimed by your adviser to offset the cost of providing you with assistance. If you switch them to Cleversquirrel, your adviser will lose out. And they won't be very happy!
Cleversquirrel focuses on the millions of policies where no adviser exists. But you don't have to be concerned about nominating Cleversquirrel to reclaim the money. It isn't a one-time move. If you decide to appoint an adviser for your policy in the future, Cleversquirrel will help you make the switch, so your new adviser can claim the money to help offset their costs.
Most people have several policies that could generate donations. Investments, like PEPs, ISAs, Bonds and Units Trusts. Pensions, including types such as Stakeholder, Personal and Free Standing AVCs. Life Insurance providing mortgage cover, family protection and critical illness cover. And General Insurance such as buildings, contents, mortgage payment protection and healthcare. The list goes on and on.
Whilst some policies may only produce a few pounds a year, larger investments and pensions can generate an awful lot more. Generally, the older people become, the more policies they hold and the larger those policies tend to be. Cleversquirrel's research through the Financial Services Authority and the Association of British Insurers estimates the average amount available for donation for a person in their fifties could approach £100 in the first year. And once authority passes to Cleversquirrel, this sum continues for as long as the policies remain in force. Which could be many years, considering these are long-term arrangements. It all adds up to a staggering amount of money for charity. Many millions in fact.
Charities Trust handles the donations. It's a national donation management agency approved by HM Revenue & Customs. It's a non-profit making organisation and a charity in its own right. It provides a choice of over 30,000 charities and good causes to receive the donations. So you're bound to find your favourite.
Cleversquirrel makes the most of the internet. In the last few years, thousands of sites like Facebook and MySpace have sprung up online, comprising hundreds of millions of members. They're hugely popular. People make regular visits to keep in touch with friends who share similar interests. Cleversquirrel exploits this exploding phenomenon. It doesn't replace existing sites. It's new and simple with a single focus. To link people with their friends and their favourite charities.
Cleversquirrel is free to use for everyone. To become a Cleversquirrel, all you need is a valid email address. You'll provide some basic details and choose your favourite charity. And here's a major point. You don't need a policy to raise money for your favourite charity.
That's because your favourite charity receives a donation when people you introduce have charges reclaimed on their policies. Half the money reclaimed goes to their favourite charity. And half goes to yours. It's a 'thank you' for the introductions. You spread the word. And your favourite charity benefits. Quite simply, if you introduce lots of people with many policies, you could raise a pile of cash for the cause you care about. Without it costing you anything but your time.
The principle of sharing the donation between the introducer's favourite charity and the favourite charities chosen by people they introduce is the power behind Cleversquirrel. It enables people without policies to make a huge difference to charity, simply by spreading the word.
The minimum age is 13. And this means Cleversquirrel offers children a wonderful opportunity to raise money for causes they care about. Their scout or guide group. The school PTA. Raising money simply by telling their parents, friends and relatives. Instilling a charitable ethos from an early age. A great use of their time spent online.
Employers who have a policy of social responsibility can promote Cleversquirrel to their staff. Raising money for their 'charity of the year'. As the 'introducer', half the money raised from charges reclaimed on their employees' policies goes to the employer's chosen charity.
Charities themselves can profit handsomely by taking positive action. They're always seeking innovative and effective fundraising methods. And this is arguably one of the most efficient ever seen. By promoting Cleversquirrel to their existing supporters and donors, they consolidate those relationships and create a new income stream in the process. One that's pretty much guaranteed to continue for many years into the future.
The charity is permanently entitled to a half share of the charges reclaimed on the policies of supporters and donors they introduce. Charities taking an early-mover opportunity to promote Cleversquirrel to their existing donors stand the best chance of securing the largest slice of the hidden millions. That's because someone can only ever be introduced to Cleversquirrel once.
But it's even better than that. When a charity's existing donors join, they're most likely to choose the charity itself as their favourite. Which means the charity doesn't just pick up the introducer half of the donation. It receives the other half too.
As if that wasn't enough, the power of recommendation magnifies the benefit. When the charity's donors tell their friends and family about Cleversquirrel, they chat about the charity they're supporting. Giving the charity wider publicity. To a new audience. By recommendation. Which is always most effective. And the net result is a great opportunity for the charity to further increase its income stream.
You have your own page on Cleversquirrel. You can do as much or as little as you like on it. You can link to your favourite charity's page. You can link to your friends' pages to see who they're supporting. You can display your statistics: how many people you've introduced; who you're supporting; what you've raised for good causes. Or you can keep it anonymous. Most importantly, you can list your policy numbers. As that's the source of the donations.
Each charity has its own page too. It can link with all the 'Cleversquirrels' who have chosen it as their favourite. It can post upcoming events and new fundraising initiatives. These comments are automatically sent to 'Cleversquirrels' supporting it, showing the good things that are happening from these new donations.
Each individual and each charity has their own Fundraise area. Provided are all manner of tools to 'do some voluntary work'. It's as simple as 'spreading the word'. You'll find web-badges, banners and adverts. Leaflets, articles and a brochure. There's an easy-to-use email invitation system for everyone you know. You can even download the movie on the home page at www.cleversquirrel.com/ to your favourite websites and pages at Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and others.
And one of the most effective fundraising features, also promoted on the Cleversquirrel home page is a free email course entitled 'Time is Money!' Over 9 days, you'll receive a short daily message, each focusing on a different fundraising idea. Armed with this knowledge, you really could raise thousands for charity, in less than one hour of your time!
Most of the ideas work at the click of a mouse. Simple, fast and effective. And the key point with all of these marketing methods is that when someone joins Cleversquirrel as a result of clicking on one of your messages, you'll automatically be credited as the introducing source. Meaning your favourite charity collects the introducer's half of the money reclaimed. Delivering the potential to build large donations, with the minimum effort on your behalf.
It takes a great deal of time and effort behind the scenes to make Cleversquirrel work. So it might surprise you to learn that 80% of the reclaimed policy charges is donated to charity. The amount retained covers the cost of checking whether each policy contains charges that can be reclaimed, monitoring the money received month after month, maintaining the website and all the support services. It also funds the cost of providing you with help on any policy you register, if you need it. Cleversquirrel is committed to giving the most money to charity and if there's a surplus after costs, expansion and development works, it's donated to charity.
It's often the simplest ideas that are the best. And Cleversquirrel is one of these. With very little of your time, you really can make a difference. But only if you do something positive. So please go to www.cleversquirrel.com/. Read the detail. Watch the movie. Join. List your policies, if you have any. Then spread the word. For until you do, money that's available for donation will remain with providers and won't be donated to good causes!
