Shopping is fun, whether you experience on-site shopping or enjoy online shopping. After COVID-19, online shopping is trending worldwide. It allows shoppers to purchase their favorite item from anywhere at any time without getting into the hassle of driving to the store or waiting in line for payment. Besides, online shopping enables supporters to “shop for a cause” by giving back directly to their favorite nonprofits.
In this article, we will briefly discuss the ways that enable shopping for a cause.
“Shopping for a cause” has different, similar terms like “philanthropic shopping”, “shopping for good”, “shop-raising” etc. It implies the process of purchasing goods to benefit a nonprofit organization or a charity mission.
More specifically, most fundraisers behind the shopping for a cause mission make supporters contribute through their normal purchases; they do otherwise. This means shoppers can still enjoy sales and other discounts despite supporting a cause. The contributions from shopping-related fundraising come from retailer supporters buying it at no additional cost to supporters.
There are many ways in which non-profits can ask you to ask for your support.
1.Shop at a store that donates: As shoppers have started shopping for a cause, retailers have committed to supporting good causes. Many businesses, through their corporate social responsibility programs, release annual reports and mission statements about their associations with good causes. In this way, they encourage shoppers to carry on giving donations to continue their share for a good cause. Many stores donate a share of their earnings to a good cause.
Pros of shopping at a cause from a store that donates:
Cons:
2. Shop at a non-profit or charity store: Instead of running their missions, through donations, some nonprofits partner with e-commerce platforms and sell branded t-shirts, mugs, hats, and other stuff related to their cause. Some nonprofits also sell their unique merchandise during fundraising and other events. In this way, all of their profit goes directly toward the organization’s mission.
The benefit of shopping directly from non-profits:
On the other hand, some disadvantages of buying from charity organizations and nonprofits are:
One-for-one brands are brands that go beyond the standard philanthropic programs. You need to purchase from such stores if you are shopping for a cause. Many brands are doing this: buy one, give one offer, where for every unit of product sold, they donate another one to a needy person. Some names doing this kind of work are:
These are a few examples of many buy-one-give-one brands. Pros of one-for-one brands:
Some disadvantages of one-for-one brands
4. Buy charity-related products: There is another situation where you can do your shopping for a cause by buying charity-specific products from a store. Sometimes, for-profit businesses partner with nonprofits to develop products that benefit a charitable cause. By purchasing such items, a percentage of your purchase goes to nonprofits.
For instance, during Earth Day week, a jewelry brand launches a specific kind of bracelet made from recycled plastic. Each time someone buys one of these bracelets, a portion( 10-20%) of the proceeds is donated to the nonprofit partner, who is working on a mission to remove plastic from the ocean.
Advantages of buying charity-related products:
Disadvantages
These credit cards allow you to do the shopping for a cause, as you can always donate a percentage of all of your purchases to a nonprofit. As most other credit cards allow shoppers to earn points or cash-back rewards on their purchases, charitable credit cards donate these accumulated rewards to nonprofits.
Pros:
Cons:
There are plenty of ways you can choose how to do “shopping for a cause”, but whatever you select, it's a win-win situation. As a supporter, you might be surprised to see how many organizations you can support through shopping for a cause.