Supporters Turn to Innovative Ways to Help Their Favorite Nonprofits This Holiday Season
New York, NY, July, 2009 — As a result of the declining economy, individuals are looking for innovative and free ways to help their favorite charities, knowing that because of a national drop in donations, these causes need help more than ever!
More than 81,000 nonprofits have partnered with the online shopping mall GoodShop.com and Yahoo! powered search engine GoodSearch.com to enable their supporters to generate donations just by shopping online or searching the Internet. What makes the system so compelling is that it doesn't cost the users a thing. It's philanthropy on a shoestring!
Consumers are helping their favorite causes by shopping at GoodShop.com where they can choose from more than 1,000 top online retailers including Amazon, Target, Best Buy, Apple Store, Sephora, Macy's, 1-800-Flowers, and Expedia among others. The shopping experience and the prices are exactly the same as going to the retailer directly, but by going through GoodShop, up to 30% of the purchase price is donated to the user's favorite cause. GoodShop also offers hundreds of great deals and coupons so not only are the consumers helping their favorite non-profit, but they are saving money while doing so!
Similarly, with every search conducted on Yahoo!-powered GoodSearch.com, approximately one penny is donated to the user's favorite charity. It's used exactly like any other search engine and the pennies add up quickly!
GoodSearch and GoodShop have grown into a massive online grassroots movement attracting the attention of leaders in the nonprofit industry, students, bloggers, writers, and even celebrities such as Jessica Biel, Montel Williams, and Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20 who have all created videos on behalf of their favorite charities and GoodSearch.
To give you a sense of how this has worked:
¥ Supporters of the ASPCA, to date, have raised nearly $30,000 to help animals in need!
¥ A single purchase placed at retailer Gaiam.com resulted in a $284 donation to the Motion Mania Dance Theater in Maryland!
¥ The Bubel Aiken Foundation, which helps children with disabilities, has earned almost $12,000!
¥ The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation has earned more than $11,500!
Internet users have found GoodSearch and GoodShop to be a compelling idea. Leslie Philips, a veterinarian in Tennessee, uses GoodSearch and GoodShop to support The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee — the nation's largest natural habitat refuge developed specifically for endangered African and Asian elephants. "Why wouldn't I use it? It makes me feel good knowing that when I'm shopping for gifts online, some of that money is going to help endangered species!"
The GoodSearch and GoodShop team is revolutionizing online philanthropy so that no one is denied the opportunity to support the causes most important to them. "The response to this idea has truly been overwhelming," said Ken Ramberg, Co-Founder of GoodSearch and former President of MonsterTRAK, the largest online career site for college students (now a division of Monster.com). "More than 100 new nonprofits and schools register daily and GoodSearch and GoodShop are helping make a difference in communities across the country. They are alleviating the strain in resources and making it possible for everyone, regardless of how much time or money they have, to give back."
