Using business cliches to raise money for the Royal British Legion

I had the pleasure of hosting my European marketing colleagues at work this week, along with some senior members of our corporate marketing management team. During the meetings I put together a ‘cliché tax’ system where a small fine (20p or 20c depending on where you came from!) was paid every time someone said one of a set of pre-defined ‘clichés’. These words included ‘Leverage’ (I hate that word), and stuff like ‘boil the ocean’, ‘let’s take that offline’, ‘holistic view’, win/win, and ‘work smarter not harder’. 

To my delight all my colleagues they all embraced this idea fully and were really great sports! In total we raised £22.30, $2.00 and 17.70Euros. A total of roughly £38.00. I am going to match the total, so a cheque for the Royal British Legion is on its way in the post for £76.00. In my opinion this is a great way of raising a bit of cash for a great charity. The do an amazing job looking after our soldiers. 

Why don’t you try it next time you have a meeting? If we all did something small like this, the combined effect could be very powerful. 

bruce the bear (meeting mascot) and the fines