Milton Keynes Cheerleading Academy
Milton Keynes Cheerleading Academy (MKCA) is a non-profit community interest company that provides high level cheerleading training and coaching to people of all ages and abilities.
MKCA joined Localgiving in 2018. At the time MKCA were exploring various ways to raise funds for a specialist training facility. As Paige Hottor, Programme Director of MKCA, explains:
“We started our journey with Localgiving last year. We needed extra funds to get a new premises. We were expanding and needed extra space to offer new classes for different ages and abilities”.
“We took the time to look at a few different online fundraising platforms. However the match funds, competitions and other incentives Localgiving offered were a real bonus.
“Being able to set up multiple pages is also a huge benefit (fundraisers, appeals and a central donations page) – enabling us to fundraise in different ways”
Since joining Localgiving, MKCA has raised £30,000 through the platform. This has included £6k in Gift Aid which Paige sees as a “huge plus”.
“We are not a registered charity and so being able to claim Giftaid through Localgiving makes a massive difference. “
MKCA have also brought in £1,300 in match funding and competition prize money in this time. They found particular success during the Local Hero fundraising competition, winning three prizes in two years. During this annual spring competition, fundraisers from across the UK compete for prizes ranging from £100 to £1000.
In 2019 two MKCA teams made it onto the Local Hero leaderboard, finishing in 4th and 12th place and winning their club £600 in prizes. MKCA’s innovative approach to the competition really contributed to their success. As Paige explained: