Ulster Bank’s vertical five and ten pound notes are now in circulation, and the challenge is on to replicate the success of the #FirstFiver campaign.
The brainchild of corporate fundraising consultant and recruiter John Thompson, the #FirstFiver campaign saw £12.5m go to charities across the UK through people taking up the challenge to donate their first new polymer £5 note to a charity of their choice.
This then developed into #Tenderaising, which tries to replicate the success of #FirstFiver with other new notes and coins as they come into circulation,
With the launch of the UK’s first vertical notes by Ulster Bank at the end of last month, Thompson has challenged people to do the same with the hashtag #VerticalFiver.
John Thompson challenged me on Twitter I said I’d support this excellent initiative.
I’m a proponent of a consumer-paced move towards a cashless society and believe that cash can have its place – especially for a charity donation so I’ll be donating the first vertical note I obtain from an Ulster Bank ATM when I visit Northern Ireland later this month.
Commenting on #VerticalFiver, John Thompson said:
“It’s great to see the former CEO of BACS, a leading proponent of a consumer-paced move towards a cashless society, accept my challenge and pledge to seek out his first vertical note to donate to charity. This underlines the true spirit of #Tenderaising, as originally unleashed by #FirstFiver. It’s a simple, but effective concept; a perfect blend of physical giving powered by people promoting causes closest to their hearts by sharing unique content on social media.
“I’ve already seen NI hospices getting involved and hope the momentum will build over the following weeks.
“Cash is still king when it comes to giving and, as many recent examples have shown, technology is not infallible; so a crashless society must come before a cashless one. Until that time, there will be lots of opportunities to fundraise through new notes and coins.John Thompson, corporate fundraising consultant and recruiter
“My hopes are that the movement will eventually go global and, for now, that the generous people of Northern Ireland rise to the challenge of #VerticalFiver.”
I do hope that the people of Northern Ireland will get behind this idea and donate a vertical fiver (or tenner) to a charity of their choice and raise lots of money for good causes.
Nothing to stop visitors to Northern Ireland doing the same as well of course!