The Charity Retail Awards

Young Volunteer of the Year

Recognising the positive difference that young volunteers have made to charity retail over the last year.

Criteria: Describe how your young volunteer has
✨ shown exceptional commitment and performance
✨ made a measurable difference to the shop(s) where they work
✨ led the way for the charity retail chain

Volunteer of the Year

Celebrating our committed volunteers, who ensure the everyday success of charity shops.

Criteria: Describe how your volunteer has
✨ shown exceptional commitment and performance
✨ made a measurable difference to the shop(s) where they work
✨ led the way for the charity retail chain

Retail Employee of the Year

Recognising the work of an exceptional charity retail employee.

Criteria: Your employee has
✨ shown exceptional commitment and performance
✨ made a measurable difference to the retail operation where they work
✨ helped to increase awareness of retailing as an important part of the parent charity’s fundraising
✨ introduced innovative ways of working that have improved efficiency and/or profitability

Shop of the Year

Recognising the team involved in the exceptional performance of a shop.

Criteria: Quantitative
✨ Exceptional sales/profitability increases in the last financial year
✨ Increase in average spend per customer
✨ Increase in footfall of the shop
✨ Increase in recruitment and retention of volunteers
✨ Increase in amount or quality of donations to the shop
✨ Other quantifiable measure

Criteria: Qualtitative
✨ Introduction of new activities, ideas or other fundraising carried out by the shop
✨ Mentoring and support given to staff and teams from other shops
✨ Other initiatives or partnerships with external groups

Campaign of the Year

This award recognises the most creative charity retail marketing campaigns of the year - open to campaigns of all budgets and strategies, including social media.

Criteria: Describe
✨ a planned marketing campaign aimed at reaching a particular audience and objective
✨ creative and innovative marketing strategies to reach objective
✨ mixed media in the campaign
✨ effectiveness of the campaign and how it supported the retail operation to achieve its objective
✨ lessons learned

Leadership

Recognising the extraordinary leadership, expertise and skills of a charity retail leader, navigating their team to success. Aimed at a Head/Director of Retail or similar.

Criteria: Show how your leader has
✨ shown strong leadership and initiative
✨ made a measurable difference to the retail operation
✨ led the way on increasing awareness of retailing as an important part of the parent charity’s fundraising
✨ introduced innovative ways of working that have improved the efficiency and/or profitability of the retail operation

Most Supportive Chief Executive

Recognising the role of chief executives in guiding charities through good and bad times and in understanding the importance of retail to the parent charity.

Criteria: Show how you CEO has
✨ championed retail as a vital part within the wider charity
✨ displayed vision, ambition and effective engagement to drive forward to aims of retail
✨ offered advice and guidance to the retail operation and allowed its voice to be heard

Technology

This award celebrates the most innovative use of technology to achieve a particular objective that has had a positive impact on a charity retailer’s business.

Criteria: Show how you:
✨ implemented technological innovation to improve an area of the business 
✨ pushed the envelope when implementing innovative technologies 
✨ leveraged technology
✨ improved quality, retention, wellbeing or satisfaction of customers, staff, volunteers or service users related to retail 
✨ increased revenue
✨ demonstrated ROI and efficiency
and
✨ Can this be replicated in other shops or charities?
✨ Will this have farther reach than charity retail?

Environment and Sustainability

For the charity retailer that can demonstrate measurable carbon reduction through new ways of working that reduce the retail operation's carbon footprint.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

The charities that have consciously aimed to improve equity, diversity and inclusion across their retail teams.

Criteria: Show how your retail operation has
✨ actively demonstrated a change in metrics for measuring EDI
✨ created initiatives that encourage EDI changes within your charity and team engagement
✨ implemented internal metrics to measure current and future EDI results
✨ created an EDI team, board of advisors or affiliate/awareness groups

Social Value

This award recognises the social benefits that charity shops provide.

Criteria: How has your retail operation
✨ provided significant benefits to people in your local community or communities?
✨ provided significant benefits to staff and volunteers in your shops, other than financial benefits?
✨ provided significant benefits to shoppers/donors in your shops?
and
✨ Are you able to measure or quantify these benefits? If so please do so.
✨ Future plans to provide additional non-financial benefits.

Supplier of the Year

Three categories based on the number of CRA clients a Corporate Member has.

Criteria
✨ Simply vote for your favourite corporate partner when voting opens. Watch this space.

Outstanding Charity Retailer

This award is open to all retail operations: it doesn’t matter how big or small your charity is.

Criteria
✨ To enter you just have to demonstrate your retail operation’s outstanding achievements over the past year.