How to Turn Black Friday & Cyber Monday Shopping into An Act of Giving

#GivingTuesday is just weeks away, but before that, Black Friday and Cyber Monday holiday shopping will take place first.  In 2013, consumers spent $1.20 billion online on Black Friday and $2.29 billion on Cyber Monday, with 2014 online shopping sales expected to grow by 15 to 28 percent.  

Why does this matter to you? Your donors will be shopping to take advantage of Thanksgiving weekend deals – and their shopping could benefit you. How? By using Shopping2Give.com. America’s Charities will be taking advantage of this and we want to make sure you have the opportunity to do the same.

What is Shopping2Give & How Does it Work?

Shopping2Give.com is a cost-free shopping portal where consumers create an account and shop on their favorite retailer’s website with a percentage of their purchase going to their designated Shopping2Give charity. 

Once consumers have created their Shopping2Give account and selected which charity to support through their shopping, they simiply:

1. Visit www.shopping2give.com and browse a list of retailers.
2. Click the “Shop Now” button for the retail website on which they want to shop (e.g. Macy’s, Bergners, Banana Republic, Sam’s, etc.).
3. The browser takes the consumer to that retail website where they can shop as they normally would.
4. When the consumer submits their purchase on that retailer’s website, a percentage of their purchase is donated to that consumer’s designated Shopping2Give charity.

Click here to read more about Shopping2Give and how their site works.

How Can Your Charity Get Started?

Make sure you are a charity choice listed on Shopping2Give’s website.  It doesn’t cost you any money; just a small amount of time.  If you are interested in benefiting from consumer shopping this upcoming Thanksgiving weekend and all throughout the year, here’s what you need to do:

1. Read and sign the following Shopping2Give Terms and Conditions, which gives Shopping2Give permission to list your organization’s name on their website. Download: shopping2give-termsandconditions.pdf
2. Send the signed form via email to Liz Wolff at Liz@shopping2give.com. She will then be in contact with you to take you step-by-step through the easy process of getting started and will provide you wiht marketing materials (e.g. email blasts, print marketing material, etc.) branded with your organization’s logo and information to help you promote Shopping2Give to your donors. Included with the marketing tools will be a direct link you can provide donors, which will automatically make you their designated charity when they create a Shopping2Give account.  
3. On the 10th of each month, Shopping2Give will mail you a check for all donations received over the course of the previous month.

That’s it! Now you can get back to your #GivingTuesday plans and end-of-year giving appeals.