When you spend $100 online, do you also give $10 or $20 to a charity immediately after the purchase?

If you do a little reserch, you can spend the same $100 and the retailer will donate the cash to the charity.  Your shopping has done good works!

There are two ways to go about shopping for charity. 

First, you can choose to patronize those retailers known for their annual donations to charities, like Target, Walmart, Kohl’s, Gap, Best Buy, Mac Cosmetics, and Kroger.  Many of these retailers give pre-tax profits or sell specific items during holidays with proceeds donated.  There are usually few or no solicitations of you from the cashiers at checkout, as the retailers just pool the funds for their annual gifts.  Many of these big retailers will support causes in the local communities as well as national causes.  

Second, you can go to your favorite charity’s website, and see if there are retailers or a “virtual mall” associated with it.  Any shopping you do through the link from the charity creates a cash donation directly back to the charity from the retailer or e-mall.  This is great if you would like to direct your $$ to a specific cause. 

For instance, my husband and I support Junior Achievement of S Fla and I am on the Board of Directors.  They have a link to a “virtual mall” where there are about 1,000 national retailers like Macy’s, Best Buy, Saks, Barnes & Noble, and thousands of natural and organic “green” products (the same brands you find in the health food stores).  They receive cash donations up to 40% of the purchase price of the donor’s shopping. 

This online shopping does not cost you, the shopper, anymore than if you typed “bestbuy.com” directly. It is so easy to go through the charity site, click on your favorite store, buy what you want, use any coupons or discounts you have, then check out like normal.  A direct deposit is made to the charity from the retailer as a % of your purchase.

There is a third way, which is not a widely used yet, but it is growing daily.  You can have your own Virtual Mall, and  every time you shop online, you receive cash back.  You can then donate it to charity.  Friends can also shop at your “mall” and you can donate the extra cash back. Or, encourage them to sign up for a mall of their own, for their children’s school, PTA, church or charity.  For a Virtual Mall available to individuals, businesses and non-profits, click here for more details.  It’s not free, but there is a large income potential with this option. Average cash rebates are between 5% and 20%, with some higher. 

Your favorite charity, church or school can also sign up for a Virtual Mall, and have all of the parents, teachers, donors, congregation and staff all do their shopping to support the cause. Raise funds all year round!

There are a few sties that are only for non-profits – individuals cannot have these Virtual Mall sites.  For instance, Benevolink allows charities to sign up for free, and individuals shop there with earnings distributed quarterly.  The downside is that the average cash rebate is only 6%. Another is Goodsearch but again, the % of cash rebates are lower than on the paid site.  For free, the lower income and loss of income potential  are the trade-off. 

Most of us are cutting back on discretionary shopping, but there are necessities that can be purchased online with free shipping and no tax in many states.  For example, Drugstore.com gives free shipping and there is no state sales tax on items.  I buy vitamins, toothpaste, make-up, etc at Drugstore.com. I also use Vitaminworld.com for most vitamins and supplements, and again, free shipping.  I don’t have to go to the drugstore at all for toiletries.  (And I get 10% cash back on purchases at these 2  stores through my mall, and so does my charity). So you get cash back, or your charity, church or school does, and you save gas and time too. Not a bad deal!

I encourage all of you to find out if your favorite retailers have a giving fund.  If not, there are many others who are good corporate citizens and support the community and we should support them. 

Or, take the lead and have your own “Virtual Mall” and get cash back for your shopping – just don’t forget those charities with some of your cash back!