The Stroke Association's partnership with Groupon
The charity raised funds via Groupon on 31 May. Visitors to the retail discount site could click on the Stroke Association deal and donate anything from £5 to £260
What is it?
The Stroke Association has partnered with Groupon, a website that offers discounted deals, and encouraged individuals to donate via the site yesterday. One hundred per cent of money given through this initiative went directly to the charity to support its Life After Stroke campaign.
Donors could purchase an art therapy session for a stroke victim (£5), a blood pressure testing kit (£15) or fund one day of a stroke research project (£260). Groupon has published the stories of two stroke survivors on its blog.
Why now?
May 2012 was the UK’s first designated Action on Stroke Month. The Stroke Association used its deal on Groupon to round off its month of awareness-raising activities.
Why Groupon?
Seven million unique users from the UK visit the site each week and Groupon sends out a daily email updating subscribers of the deals available in their area. The charity's collaboration with Groupon means the Stroke Association could publicise its Life After Stroke campaign to the site’s large network of subscribers.
A spokeswoman for the Stroke Association said that working with Groupon helped it to reach out to a younger demographic and raise awareness of the fact that strokes affect people of all ages. The two bloggers, whose testimonies are posted on the Groupon site, were aged just 28 and 22 when they suffered strokes.
How has the campaign been promoted?
The Stroke Association has tweeted about the campaign and posted a link to the Groupon offer on its Facebook page.
Third Sector verdict:
This is not the first time that Groupon has collaborated with a charity – on Christmas Day last year, it ran an appeal to raise funds for Save the Children. The Stroke Association’s partnership with Groupon works well because customers on the site can donate quickly and easily and it is empowering for them to choose what their money is spent on. The charity’s mention in Groupon’s daily email also gives the charity valuable publicity.
