How does the scheme work?

The scheme works because agency level designers and marketing professionals donate full design days of their time (free of charge) to be matched against the time you pay for.

The scheme is managed and overseen by a proven design agency within your region. As the programme is restricted to Yorkshire and the Humber at present your agency will be Sugarcane Creative. Businesses spending £1000 or more on marketing activity can make an application online and within two days a member of the EMV team will contact you to talk through the activity you are considering. A minimum spend of £1000 is set to ensure that a designer is able to work with you for at least 4 days to ensure a reasonable sized project that stands a good chance of making a difference to your business.

If your application is straightforward we will be able to provide a quotation for your work and allocate marketing vouchers straight away giving you authority to proceed within a day or two. If your application requires an element of advice or guidance we may arrange for a more in depth telephone or face to face consultation before providing a quotation or go ahead.

Paperwork will be issued and you will be introduced to your designer and account handler. You will work with your designer and support team to complete your project and we would look for all projects to be completed within a 2 month period from commencement. The creative team that will be allocated to your project will have agreed to donate some of their time for free to provide the matched funding element, these could be individuals from carefully selected independent creative businesses who have signed up to the scheme, including Sugarcane Creative. Applications will be restricted to one application per business in the first instance.

You will need to sign off your work at the end of the project but there will be no requirement for you to pay and claim back the funded element of your project. Any payments for your contribution to the project will also be staged to help your cash flow and avoid the need for background credit checks and unnecessary paperwork.

The result is that you get access to an agency level designer or marketer for a fee that you might not ordinarily afford and get great value for money. The designer is able to work with a client they would never have met and gets paid a reasonable fee for their work but with the satisfaction of having donated some of their time for free.