After seeing and hearing about people slowing down their giving when times get tough, I wondered what would be the outcome if we were to give up one coffee a week for charity – just how much would be able to be given at the end of a year.
Why did I think of coffee? Easy really, some people think about purchases by how many coffees or beers it is ‘worth’, how many they’d have to forgo to make the purchase. Think of it this was, if something costs $100.00, it’s about 27 coffees, or 12.5 Heinekens. So why not look at charity giving in the same way.
So, after polling 80 people and receiving responses from 62 of these, which showed they consumed on average 6 coffees a week at cafes, restaurants or other establishments. A spend of about $1,372, I thought lets see what could be done if we gave a coffee a week to charity.
Based on NZ coffee prices; where a flat white sells for about $3.50; the average coffee consumed was worked out at being $3.70. Given this, if we gave up one coffee, or donated the equivalent to one coffee a week we each would be able to donate $185 each year to charity.
Weekly contributions to charity could look something like this:
|
Coffees |
Coffee Price |
|
|
1 |
3.70 |
3.70 |
|
62 |
3.70 |
229.40 |
|
620 |
3.70 |
2,294.00 |
|
1,000 |
3.70 |
3,700.00 |
|
10,000 |
3.70 |
37,000.00 |
Annual contributions to charity could look something like this:
|
Participants |
Coffee Price |
Charity Contribution |
|
1 |
185 |
185.00 |
|
62 |
185 |
11,470.00 |
|
620 |
185 |
114,700.00 |
|
1,000 |
185 |
185,000.00 |
|
10,000 |
185 |
1,850,000.00 |
Imagine if this was matched dollar for dollar by a coffee house!!!
Perhaps we could organise a coffee-a-thon, with all funds going to one cause; this could be managed through an organisation such as FundraiseOnline, who would ensure funds went direct to the selected charity.
Choosing the charity could be a task in itself, but worth the effort.
Food for thought, well in this case Coffee for thought, or a thoughtful coffee; take your pick.
If you’re keen to get involved in something like this let me know, leave a comment below or email me
Update:
Since posting this several cafes, coffee merchants from New Zealand, Australia, UK and the USA have made contact to discuss how they may be able to initiate something like this in their area.
This matches what the intention of the post was, to open minds to other ways of assisting people in the community and to also inspire companies to implement it where possible.
Fingers crossed we will see some progress on this in the coming year.
Originally posted on AdageBusiness blog
charitymattersnz.com 