THE MONTHLY CO MAKES FIRST DONATION IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS

More than 500 sanitary products have been donated to Canterbury-based family violence services charity Aviva (formerly the Christchurch Women’s Refuge), thanks to the work of the new social enterprise, The Monthly Co.

In October 2017, The Monthly Co., successfully raised over $15k on crowdfunding platform PledgeMe, to launch their organic tampon delivery subscription service. Over 300 people supported the campaign including other New Zealand owned businesses such as Little Yellow Bird, Fix and Fogg Peanut Butter and Noble and Savage Tea.

The Monthly Co’s social impact subscription model means that for every order sent out to paying customers, a box of tampons is given to disadvantaged women and girls through a partnership with Aviva. The start-up was created by University of Canterbury students and flatmates, Isabelle Smith and Josie Milton. The co-founders entered their idea in up a startup challenge run by the University’s entrepreneurial club ‘Entre’. They came ‘Overall Runner-up’ in the highly competitive competition and took out the prize for ‘Best Business Plan’.

Following their success in the startup competition and their crowdfunding campaign, The Monthly Co. was able to order their first shipment of tampons from their supplier in Europe. The shipment is due to arrive early next year but (after pulling some strings with their supplier) The Monthly Co was able to get some product over early. Isabelle Smith says “although we won’t be starting subscriptions deliveries until February as we wait for our packaging to be printed and our full shipment to arrive, our suppliers were able to air freight one box over this week so that we could make our first donation to Aviva in time for Christmas”.

While tampons aren't exactly a Christmas luxury, Smith says “the holiday season can become a financial burden for many families, by removing the need to pay for menstrual products at this time we can help women put their money towards more important things this holiday season”.

The donation was met with thanks and appreciation by the staff at Aviva. “Our focus has always been to create a real and tangible way for women to help other women, and today we were able to see this happen” says Milton.

The Monthly Co. hopes to increase its positive impact by signing up more subscribers to its service in the coming year and bringing on charitable partners throughout New Zealand.

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