Big things... small packages
“No one is too small to make a difference” Greta Thunberg
All of us here at Choose a Challenge take enormous pride in representing a small company that continues to set a big example of how to run a sustainable, ethically-responsible company.
12 years ago, challenge fundraising didn’t exist as it does today, so it was on us to pioneer this radical notion of combining adventure travel with charity. Since then, we've helped raise more than £20 million for charity. That’s pretty incredible!
Nowadays there are a handful of tour operators running charity challenges, so it’s important for us that we retain our authenticity, to distinguish our brand from the chasing pack. In this regard, our endorsement of locally-run trips helps set us aside from many other travel companies.
Incepted on the slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro back in 2008, Choose a Challenge began as a collaborative venture with our in-country support team in Tanzania, who remain with us to this day. From that very first trip, we’ve gone on to host various challenges across the globe, each one delivered by locally-resourced staff. By doing it this way, not only do we help sustain the livelihoods of entire communities in our destination countries, but our participants are rewarded with a genuine cultural experience.
As experts in travel, we know that delivering once-in-a-lifetime trips at great value is just one part of the job. Customers also deserve to book in confidence, which is why we continue to operate as a fully-licensed ABTA member providing ATOL protection for each of our flights-inclusive packages. Some companies exclusively offer tour packages without flights, which shifts all the risk and responsibility associated with air travel onto the customer. Whilst we do allow participants to remove flights in lieu of a reduced fundraising target, our international packages are delivered with flights included as standard, which maximises the income generated for charity and ensures our travellers are fully protected.
With the added incentive that, from this year, all of our trips are carbon-neutral, participants are now able to book with us and actively support the mission to reduce our carbon footprint. Accredited by Travellers Against Plastic (TAP) and Tourism Concern as an ethical tour operator, participants were already aware of our environmental pledges, but we feel that offsetting all our carbon emissions is a huge statement, and an endorsement of our commitment to sustainability.
Our business model is built on the fundamental accord that a participant’s charity will never pay more than 50% of their minimum fundraising target. This ensures that, at the very least, half of the donations our participants receive are retained by the charity they have chosen to support. Once that minimum sponsorship threshold is passed, 100% of everything else raised is pledged to the charity.
In an ideal world, every penny would be going to charity, but of course we are contracted to deliver these incredible challenges, and naturally we incur all the costs of organising them. With no hidden charges, we operate with complete transparency and integrity when promoting our services, and this provides reassurance for participants, stakeholders and suppliers alike.
Up until recent times, we haven’t allowed participants to pay for their own trips, as our whole operation has been about supporting the charitable organisations with whom we partner. While that hasn’t changed principally, we do now host at least one public (open) departure for each destination, giving participants the opportunity to self-fund their trip costs. We feel this is important, as many individuals seek adventure, but may not have the time to commit to fundraising on the scale required to cover the costs of an all-inclusive tour package.
Ultimately, Choose a Challenge helps generate so much money and awareness for the charities it works with. Raising money for a cause promotes empathy, compassion and generosity: values that we feel are so important to the youth of today, as they develop their view of the world. The vocational support we provide to challenge leaders will also be something they look back on with gratitude, and our recruitment programme for in-country operatives gives more young people the opportunity to travel abroad.
Speaking from a nomadic background, I sincerely hope the experiences we give our younger supporters translate into healthy travel addictions, as I personally believe it to be a rite of passage in which all people should indulge while they can. On the other hand, the commitment to supporting a cause may provide a gateway to further charity-based endeavours.
All in all, our little company has a big impact on peoples’ lives, from participants to suppliers, and the collective contribution made by our supporters makes a world of difference to the missions of our partner charities. Hence, our mission statement:
