Scrooge Awards Xmas 2008

from the Charities Advisory Trust

Which is the meanest retailer on the high street when it comes to charity Christmas cards? And which is the greediest?

The Charities Advisory Trust surveys all main high street shops which offer charity Christmas cards (the fieldwork is carried out in the last week of October and early November). The purpose of the awards is to alert the public to the sham of cards purporting to be charity cards where less than 10% of the purchase price actually goes to charity.

The Charities Advisory Trust proudly announces that the winner of the 7th annual Scrooge Award is Harrods. (This is the third year running that Harrods has won the award, so they are clearly proud of their Scrooge-like attitude). Of their range of charity cards (174 designs), 82% gave under 10% to charity. A startling 46% gave less than 5%.

The card with the least to charity was found in Harrods -- 3.9%, a Special Editions card, in aid of Save the Children and British Heart Foundation. 30p a card, and printed in China, so a high profit margin for somebody -- not the charities.

The Georgy Porgy award for Greed goes to Cards Galore (with 45 branches). Of their range of charity cards, a startling 147 out of 171 gave less than 10% to charity. Since the majority of their cards were printed in China, low costs were not benefiting the charities (and we all pay the environmental costs).


Key points

A big thumbs down for Harrods, the winner of the Scrooge Award for the third year running. Shame on Cards Galore, and card publishers Special Editions, for their greed.

Matters of concern

1) Charity cards used to be a way of raising funds -- the customer paid a premium to send a charity card. Now you can pay very little to get the cachet of a charity card, but charities suffer the loss of income. You can buy charity cards for as little as 5p. This means less than ½p a card to charity, and undermines real charity Christmas cards, squeezing out the charities. This is the same as the problems of small producers being squeezed by the large retailers.

2) This year more than ever it is the big, national charities that get the licensing deals, which makes the fact they agree to such poor deals even more surprising. They seek short-term gain whilst undermining their own market.

Does it matter?

Yes. Card Aid, which gives 40 -- 60% to charity, gives the following examples:
- One pack of cards can feed a family of six for a day.
- 100 cards can pay for a child's education for a year.
- 30 cards (the average purchase) could restore the sight of a child born with cataracts.

What should consumers do?

If you want to help charities then buy from temporary charity shops or from the Card Aid online shop (Card Aid). Card Aid guarantees a high return to charity.


For more information contact Dame Hilary Blume, Director.
Card Aid is an initiative of the Charities Advisory Trust
The Charities Advisory Trust, Radius Works, Back Lane, London, NW3 1HL
Tel: 020 7794 9835 E-mail: people@charitiesadvisorytrust.org.uk

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