Asda has announced that it is making millions of pounds available to UK primary schools by encouraging families to use its loyalty programme, Asda Rewards including schools in the Boston area.
In a game changing new campaign, fronted by Joe Wicks, the supermarket is offering to donate 0.5% of the value of any shop done at Asda until 30th November 2024 to customers’ primary school of choice – when they shop using Asda Rewards.
The supermarket is kicking off each school fund with £50 and offering to top up with an extra £1 for every customer that selects their school. The retailer is projecting to donate around £7.5m through the campaign.
The new initiative is a first for the loyalty market – allowing users to select their own benefactor and raise unlimited funds, simply by using their loyalty app – and with no impact on their own Cashpot earnings.
The new initiative signals the significant growth of the Asda Rewards programme – which launched only two years ago in August 2022, and now has over six million weekly users. Since launch, users have earned over £525m in their Cashpots, which they can put towards their shopping at Asda.
Commenting on the new initiative, Stephen Bromby, Asda Boston’s community champion said; “The entire team at Asda are absolutely delighted to launch Cashpot for Schools – an initiative that is testament to our commitment to supporting families, and evidence of the incredible opportunity created by our Asda Rewards programme.
“We know that 87% of families are asked to contribute to their primary school to support funding – with some families contributing up to £138 per year, which is a significant sum when budgets remain tight.
“The power of Asda Rewards means we can create a route for them to donate directly to their school, simply by doing their normal shopping with Asda and benefiting from the great value we offer everyday, as well as topping up their own Cashpot. It’s a game changing initiative for schools and a win win for customers.”
Asda has partnered with charity Parentkind on the initiative, who have provided data for all 22,000 state funded primary schools in the UK – allowing families to select their school of choice in the app. Parentkind is conducting diligence on all school bank data to ensure that, when the campaign closes, Cashpots can be transferred to schools for them to invest in the resources they need.
Cashpot for Schools is the latest innovative campaign launched in Asda Rewards. Its hugely successful ‘Christmas Saver’ mechanic – which allows customers to put their regular Cashpot savings aside for Christmas – has already seen over one million customers put £28m away for Christmas 2024, whilst the Rewards Baby Club launched in March gives users 10% back in their Cashpot across all baby products.
Asda also offers Blue Light Card holders the opportunity to earn 5% back on a range of products bought at Asda. Last month Blue Light Card confirmed teachers are eligible for the card and benefits – meaning teachers, as well as their schools can benefit from Asda Rewards.
Stephen continued: “Asda Rewards has allowed us to deliver even more for our customers – above and beyond the great value and range they get from shopping with us week in, week out. Rewards is giving pounds, not points, back to our customers, it’s helping us understand our shoppers better, enabling us to offer more relevant products – and now, helping them support their kids and schools with real cash for the things they need. This is an incredible achievement for a programme that is only two years old – and clear evidence of our commitment to growing it further and doing even more for our customers.”
Jason Elsom, chief executive of Parentkind said: “As the membership charity for PTAs, we’ve spent almost seven decades supporting school fundraising.‘Cashpot for Schools’ is by far the largest single opportunity brought to our members in recent memory. We are thrilled to be working with Asda to help realise this bold ambition.
“Not only can ‘Cashpot for Schools’ benefit every state primary school, but it also brings Asda’s 18 million customers one step closer to the needs of their local primary schools, with everyone able to play their part in helping the life chances of children simply by choosing a primary school they would like Asda to support.”
