Tis The Season

Though Thanksgiving and Black Friday are behind us, gift buying for most of us is in full swing. So it seems to be the perfect time to report on how some retailers are working with charities.

MediaPost and Smart Money have published interesting stories about who is doing what and why.

Retailers Wrap Discounts With Red Ribbons
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.printFriendly&art_aid=117053

Give to Charity; Get a Discount
http://www.smartmoney.com/spending/deals/discounts-for-donations/

Holiday Cheer: Major Retailers Launch Cause Initiatives
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=116718

Some of the biggest names in retail are mentioned in the articles. Macy's will give the Make-A-Wish Foundation $1 for every letter written at a "Believe" station. J.C. Penney helps link you up with a senior or child in need via the Salvation Army Angel Giving Tree. Wal-Mart is making $32 million in monetary and in-kind donations to charitable organizations across the country. Mandee has teamed up with Soles4Souls and when customers make an in-store donation of a pair of gently used shoes through Dec. 24, they receive a one-time use coupon for 20% off one item.

But other retailers, large and small, are committed to making the season bright for charities.

Simon Pearce Glass is again offering the Share the Light Charity program. This year's design chosen as the Charity Piece is the $35 Pear Bauble. A portion of the proceeds from the November 23 - December 24 sales is being donated to New York City-based Roundabout Theatre Company.

Airwalk is premiering ‘Airwalk Doing Your Part." The shoe brand will donate $1 to Music for Relief or The Surfrider Foundationon on behalf of each consumer who submits his/her email address at www.airwalk.com/doingyourpart. During the submission process, the consumer designates which of the two charities will receive the donation. No prior purchase is required.

Payless ShoeSource will deliver over $1million worth of free shoes to children of families in need via a network of hundreds of charity partners. In order to participate, charities have to apply directly to Payless by going to http://www.paylessgives.com/.

Best Buy is focusing on teens. When consumers buy one of the designated @15 Gifts (which range from eReaders to DVDs), the company will contribute a portion of the proceeds to a fund for nonprofits targeting teens. The benefiting nonprofits are Genesys Works, Youth Venture and Teens Against Bullying.

I have a soft spot for the "little guy." So I think its great that the boutique, Sportie LA, is collecting gently worn footwear to ship to Soles4Souls. Sportie LA is also making it possible for customers to make money donations to the charity.

In my next posting, I'm going to talk about the charities that have extensive holiday programs with retailers. Make-A-Wish is but one of the nonprofits I will feature.