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About Book Aid Charitable Trust
In the 1980s a desperate plea came from Africa and other countries where economic crises and foreign currency restrictions had reduced supplies of Christian books to an all-time low. This cry for help from many Christians suffering from the "Book Famine" became impossible to ignore. Book Aid Charitable Trust was set up to make large shipments of new and secondhand Christian books and Bibles to these needy areas. In particular, Book Aid supports Christian bookshops, mainly in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. Volunteers gather books through a network of UK collection points. They are then transported to the warehouses in London and Ranskill. The books are sorted, boxed and placed on pallets ready for shipment. When the books reach their destination, they are sold at affordable prices. The money raised is used to enhance and develop local literature initiatives and support Christian ministries. Smaller shipments of more scholarly books are occasionally made to equip Bible College libraries, which are used to train a new generation of ministers of the Gospel. Of those books not required overseas, some are sold in Book Aid bookshops in the United Kingdom, and the money raised is used to pay shipping and administration costs. Since 1988 over 30 million Christian Books and Bible have been shipped to book-hungry areas thanks to the generosity of British Christians.
Our involvement
Mack has been connected with Book Aid since around 2016 as a supporter and advocate.
In 2018 Mack Developed the Amazon sales and systems supporting it for Book Aid. The main idea was to list an online small portion of the inventory; the sale of those would contribute to the organisation's overall income. After creating the project proposition and plan, we have moved forward with it. Our involvement in the project lasted six months and involved the following:
Separating the warehouse into distinctive e-commerce is.
The organisation of the warehouse.
Implementation of the e-commerce and shipping systems.
Optimisation of the process of loading products, replenishment and shipping.
Optimisation of the listings on Amazon.
Support in further improvements.
Financial Overview
2017 - £92'701 - the value of physical sales before our involvement
2018 - £132'671 - the value of physical sales after getting involved. That is an additional £40'000.
2019 - £150'117 - the value of physical sales after the project was delivered
2020 - £149'738 - the value of physical sales in the two years after the project was delivered. This year is of particular significance as it was the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic when physical shops were closed for most of the year; therefore greater part of that total sales has to come from the Online channel developed by Mack.
Image - public source: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/charity-details/1039484/financial-history
As of 2022, Book Aid is well supported through the sales of books on Amazon.
With over 30'000 books listed, the organisation does not have to worry about the downturns that many other organisations face nowadays. We hope that that income stream will help Book Aid to continue the amazing job they are already doing despite the rising living costs and skyrocketing energy prices.
If you want to support Book Aid or buy books from that amazing ministry, visit: https://book-aid.org.