Corporations Take Online and Offline Action On Behalf of Charities

Dear Readers: This post was begun the day before the earthquake hit Haiti. As we all know the people of Haiti are dealing with a catastrophic situation, and the disaster is prompting individuals around the globe to donate to Haitian relief. My next post will focus on the various ways in which technology is being used to help amass desperately needed funds. The use of mobile phones to make donations has made a great deal of news. Below you'll see how the American Foundation for Children with AIDS is working with the for-profit company, CharityCall. In my next blog I intend to take an in-depth look at how mobile phones were/are being used in the efforts to raise funds for Haitian relief.

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Highlighted in this post are two corporations that created special holiday (and year long) programs that are benefiting nonprofits. As you will read, both companies employed online mechanisms for customers/consumers to vote for a favorite charity, which would then receive a donation from the company.

Good Earth, the provider of organic coffee and tea, has initiated an online campaign through which visitors vote for their favorite charity. Good Earth has suggested eight charities, Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, American Foundation for Children with AIDS, First Book, Home Safety Council, March of Dimes, Operation Gratitude, Scholarship America, Wildlife Waystation. Consumers can also vote for their own charity of choice but they can only vote once a day.

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=119836
http://goodearthcares.com/

The three charities to receive the most votes will receive a donation from Good Earth. The donations will be made from a pool of money that comes from 50% of Good Earth's after tax profits (up to a total of $30,000) from the sale of every package of tea and coffee. The voting runs from October 25,2009 to February 28, 2010.

As of 1/10/10 the top five charities are: American Foundation for Children with AIDS, Operation Gratitude, Home Safety Council, Wildlife Forever, Scholarship America. Of these top five charities only Home Safety Council and Scholarship America promote the Good Earth campaign. Home Safety does the best job with a prominent ad unit on the home page, which is above the fold. Scholarship America's promotion is a bit harder to find though it is found on the home page. Consumers have to scroll down on the home page. Under the section "Scholarship News & Events," almost at the very bottom of the page, there is a text explanation of the Good Earth campaign. The copy includes a hyperlink to Good Earth.

Though the American Foundation for Children with AIDS is not actively promoting the Good Earth campaign, the charity is promoting a partnership with CharityCall™ and Truist. CharityCall is a for-profit venture that allows mobile phone users to make charitable donations via a SmartPhone (PayPal) platform or through an AT&T Wireless cell phone without having to enter an SMS text, credit card or user specific information. The AT&T Wireless user dials #505, and when prompted the user enters the 2-digit ID of their desired charity or cause. The donation process typically takes less than 30-seconds. To support AFCA, dial 12 after being prompted. Donation are posted on the monthly AT&T Wireless statement.

CharityCall charges nonprofits fees to participate. There is a one-time $350 set-up fee, a base monthly service fee of $250, and a is "per donation" fee of 5%. The donation fee is separate from any applicable PayPal, credit/debit card or other financial processing charges. According to CharityCall's FAQS, 95% of a donor's dollars, less any applicable credit card clearing charges, are distributed directly to the designated charity or cause. CharityCall and its partners provide all of the operational donor services at a total cost of only 5% of donations.

The wireless phone donations collected are received by CharityCall's fiscal agent, Global Impact. Global Impact will make a monthly disbursement to the participating charities within a period of 60-days from date of receipt of the donations.

After making a donation, donors can schedule a reminder to donation again user based on a selected calendar criteria - weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc. The reminders are sent to the donor's email address at the scheduled times.

On CharityCall's website lists the American Foundation for Children with AIDS, American Red Cross, Community Health Charities, Earth Share, Global Action for Children, Global Impact, Joyful Heart Foundation, Make-A-Wish Foundation of Eastern North Carolina as participating charities.

Target has a history of providing financial and in-kind donation support to nonprofits. Since 1946, Target has given 5 percent of its income to support and enrich the communities in which the stores are located. According to the company website, the donation amount today equals more than $3 million a week. The nonprofits supported service the areas of education, the arts, social services and volunteerism.

Support of the arts takes the form of funding music and dance festivals, theater events and programs that enable museum and special exhibitions going. Target's "Take Charge of Education" is a school fundraising program and the "Target Field Trip Grants Program" helps "teachers bring learning to life for students." Target also makes grants to local schools and educational organizations.

In 2009 Target launched "Bullseye Gives." the company's first online giving campaign. The campaign encouraged Facebook fans to vote for their favorite charity. The charity with the highest total would receive a one-time donation that was a portion of $3 million - one week’s worth of Target giving. By logging over 38,000 votes, the Salvation Army received $391,258. The Salvation Army used the funds to upgrade media centers and renovate libraries at designated local chapters nationwide.

The donation mentioned above was part of the more than $3.25 million that was donated in cash and in-kind donations made to Salvation Army by Target. In fact, Target provide the Salvation Army with year round support via national and local partnerships which include local chapter grants, volunteerism and in-kind donations.

Target's holiday support of the Salvation Army included the following:

MediaPost reported on Target's promotion of its three-day holiday pop-up "Target-To Go" stores in New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. On the morning of December 12, 500 over-sized gift tags the morning were placed around the cities. When a consumer brought one of the gift tags to a Target To-Go shop, he/she received a "GiftCard" valued from $10 to $500. Each redeemed tag also resulted in $100 being given to the Salvation Army. When the one customer in each market received the $500 gift card, The Salvation Army also received $500. Lastly an unspecified number of families in need, selected by the Salvation Army, received a $100 Target gift card.

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=118617

Target also collaborated with Hasbro, Inc. on a special holiday promotion. From December 6 - 12, Hasbro pledged to give five percent of the purchase price of select Hasbro toys bought exclusively at Target directly to The Salvation Army.

Target worked with local Salvation Army chapters to run toy drives. The total value of the donation was $250,000 and included toys and Target GiftCards.

Target.com became a part of the Salvation Army support via holiday toy “wish list” on Target.com/targetlists that were created by local Salvation Army divisions. Simple and easy navigation enabled site visitors and donors to purchase the toys and other merchandise that were slated to be given to needy families.

http://pressroom.target.com/pr/news/community/safe-families/target-donates-to-support-families.aspx