Ensuring success for Cleanology’s industry fundraiser event to tackle hygiene poverty
The Background
Suzanne Howe Communications has worked with pioneering national cleaning company Cleanology for many years.
In September 2020, Cleanology teamed up with The Hygiene Bank, to help promote the first ever National Hygiene Week, to raise awareness of UK hygiene poverty.
That Christmas, Cleanology staff, customers and suppliers collected and distributed donations to The Hygiene Bank’s local community projects, aimed at making the Christmas period less stressful for people struggling with poverty across the UK.
In September 2021, Cleanology held its first charity event which raised over £14,000 for The Hygiene Bank.
Due to the enormous success of that event, the wide publicity generated, and the amount of money raised through the raffle and auction, Cleanology CEO, Dominic Ponniah wanted to make a bigger impact in 2022, by hosting a higher profile networking event aimed at the cleaning and FM sectors, to raise even more awareness and funds for The Hygiene Bank.
Dominic Ponniah said: “Figures show that one in three people in the UK has had to go without hygiene essentials, with people choosing to forego hygiene products before they are forced to accept donations from a food bank. With inflation currently at 10.1 per cent, and poorer households facing the brunt of the impact, these people really need our support.”
Cleanology asked long-term PR partner Suzanne Howe Communications to assist in organising and publicising the event.
The Objectives
The key objectives were to bring people from the cleaning industry together in a networking environment, and to raise money for the Hygiene Bank, while raising the profile of Cleanology, and the role it plays in the industry.
Announcing the event, and its sponsors, Dominic Ponniah said: “Last year was our first fundraising event, and we managed to raise a staggering £14,000. This year, with these fantastic sponsors on board, we plan to make an even greater impact. I am incredibly grateful to all our sponsors for getting behind this important cause.”
Tom Poynter, UK Chairman of The Hygiene Bank, said: “We are thrilled to be working with Cleanology again to raise vital funds to tackle hygiene poverty. With the cost-of-living crisis pushing more of us to make increasingly tough decisions, these partnerships with brands and corporates are more important than ever. Cleanology champions this collaborative approach to tackling hygiene poverty, enabling and empowering brands and corporates of all sizes to make a real difference to communities throughout the UK.”
The Strategy
A prestigious venue was chosen – the Private Dining Room at the Ivy Restaurant in central London – and a PR strategy was developed for the event on 27 September 2022, where guests would enjoy networking, drinks & canapes, and a lively auction and raffle in aid of The Hygiene Bank.
Actions
SHC assisted Cleanology with securing a venue for the event, and The Ivy was chosen.
SHC had regular event meetings with Cleanology and the venue to ensure that all aspects of the organisation and publicity were delivered.
SHC identified and approached sponsors to support the event, creating a benefits document and liaising with them, until and after they came on board. Sponsors would receive branding on all marketing materials, emailers, the Eventbrite page and mentions in all PR. There was also a “sponsors’ area” at the event.
SHC helped to secure four of the six sponsors for the event: Bridge Recruitment; Cleenol Group; Darwin Clayton; Liberty Hygiene; Truvox International; and Zep.
SHC wrote and deployed a press release announcing the event, to the clearing and FM media, liaising with editors to secure coverage.
SHC also wrote and deployed a press release reporting the success of the event and liaised with the media to secure further coverage.
SHC created and arranged for the deployment of two emailers encouraging recipients to attend the event or make a contribution to the charity.
SHC arranged and organised food and drink for the event.
SHC organised branding at the event, in the form of roller banners. SHC also designed and printed name cards and lanyards.
SHC attended the event, which was a huge success.
The Results
The event raised over £13,000 and a further £8,000 in product donations to help The Hygiene Bank charity in its work to alleviate hygiene poverty.
Dominic Ponniah, said: “The generosity and engagement of our industry has been astonishing. This year, we recruited sponsors, who have championed the cause and helped us take the event to a new level. We are really proud to see so many industry representatives coming together to achieve a common goal. With the cost of living biting more each day, there has never been a more important time to support the work of The Hygiene Bank.”
Sponsors and coverage
SHC secured four of the six sponsors for the event: Bridge Recruitment; Cleenol Group; Darwin Clayton; Liberty Hygiene; Truvox International; and Zep – all of which received considerable coverage as sponsors.
SHC secured 29 pieces of coverage for the event, featuring 176 brand mentions and reaching a total audience of over 109,000.
Five pieces of coverage were in print, reaching a total audience of 89,700 in: Network6; Cleaning & Maintenance; Housekeeping Today UK; and Tomorrow’s Cleaning.
Online coverage via 24 media outlets reached an audience of 19,600, with coverage on: FMJ; Qube; Information Facilities Management; TwinFM; FMUK; FM Business Daily; The Cleansing; Cleaning & Maintenance; Family Business United; London Connected; Cleaning Matters; Cleaning & Hygiene Today; London TV; Tomorrow’s Cleaning; and more…
Across this coverage, social media resulted in 44 shares via Facebook and Twitter.
Given its proven track record and industry contacts, I decided to engage SHC to professionally manage and run our charity fundraiser event.
Cleanology CEO Dominic Ponniah
This investment paid dividends, giving my team more time to do their jobs and, achieving a bigger and more successful event on the day.
Once again, our trusted partner SHC has delivered on budget and exceeded our expectations with its usual passion and professionalism.
