JUST A CARD is a grassroots campaign on a mission to encourage people to support, value and buy from artists, makers, independent shops and small businesses. Every sale, even just a card, is vital to their prosperity and survival.
This Crowdfunder is to keep the campaign running, allowing the JUST A CARD website to continue to be a valuable resource for the thousands of people who use it every year to share the importance of our 'support independents' message.
Listen to our campaign founder Sarah Hamilton share the story of JUST A CARD:
https://soundcloud.com/yeshen-venema/sarah-hamilton-founder-of-just-a-card
Image: @angela.chick.illustration
The idea driving the campaign is very simple -
JUST A CARD is a call to action! By using cards as an example, the message reminds people that all sales however small, just a card, just a book, just a gift keep independents in business.
JUST A CARD has shown it is about far more than shopping. Its about thousands of people across the world uniting to celebrate creativity, imagination and sheer hard work. Everyone’s welcome to be part of JUST A CARD, wherever they are independents or not.
We're approaching the ten-year anniversary of JUST A CARD. This is an incredible milestone and here are just a few of our highlights from the past decade:
- Nearly 350,000 people have visited the JUST A CARD website and seen the importance of our message
- Over 17,000 shops worldwide have JUST A CARD stickers in their windows
- We have a combined reach of over 100,000 on our social media platforms
- JUST A CARD campaign pins have appeared on the lapels of actors including Natalie Dormer, Sir Michael Palin, James Norton, Felicity Jones and Nathalie Emmanuel in a network-wide London Underground campaign
- The lovely Lauren Laverne has championed JUST A CARD on her BBC radio show
- We've worked with brilliant sponsors including the GCA, Funding Circle, Cricut, Top Drawer and The Design Trust
- Indie Friday, the colourful alternative to Black Friday has reached hundreds of thousands of indie businesses and customers from across the globe over the past nine years
Image: @angela.chick.illustration
HOW WILL THIS CROWDFUNDER HELP?
It takes funds to keep JUST A CARD going; including website hosting charges, email marketing subscriptions, design programmes and freelancer costs. Every sponsorship we work on is extremely time-consuming. Every fair takes a huge amount of work. So much more work (and money) goes into it behind the scenes, and at times, it is a full-time job.
We’ve come too far to pull the plug on JUST A CARD. We have a powerful, well-established and accessible set of resources in our website, campaign images, pins and downloads, which help everyone understand the vital important of artists, makers, independent shops and small businesses. But all of it may have to disappear if we don't have the funds to continue. We are aware that Instagram has changed, that it's harder than ever to get the message across. We want to regroup, reenergise and come back stronger to celebrate 10 years properly, but we need to keep the campaign going at a skeleton level to give us the space to do this.
We would love to keep the website up and running while we work out the future of JUST A CARD. This Crowdfunder to help us do so, for the benefit of the thousands of people still visiting and seeking the support of our resources. We know times are very tight and we have some wonderful rewards available to thank you for chipping in.
We know that not everyone can give financially and we appreciate you JUST AS MUCH if you can share the message, tell people about the Crowdfunder and speak up on your own channels about how much JUST A CARD has meant to you over the past decade. We are in the very real situation that without this boost, we may have no other choice than to close JUST A CARD for good. We don't want that, you don't want that, so let's work together to make sure it doesn't happen.
THANK YOU so much for your support!