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Posted by Sarah Brown on 06 Apr '20

Free ways to give and raise money as you shop from home

At no cost to you, your on-line supermarket shop or video download can raise funds for a charity you support, so why wouldn't you do it?

Everyone is looking for alternatives to safely shop during this pandemic and use of the internet is surging. With a little thought we can support charities at no cost to us at all. As the consumer you will pay no more to use your favourite shop and they donate a small % to the cause you support.

All these sites are free for the charity or good cause, one will support smaller groups as well, and they will all generate income. They are also free for the purchaser.

An on-line shopping centre

This site Easyfundraising has lots of shops, (4,113 retailers) . If you only want to use one website this is the most comprehensive.

So far, they've raised over £31 million for thousands of community groups, schools, sports clubs, small and large charities across the UK. They are the only major site that will donate to organisations that are not registered charities.

Shops include:

  • Waitrose
  • John Lewis
  • Occado
  • Amazon NB for video downloads and devices they pay 1.5% more than if you use their own scheme (see below)
  • Argos
  • Just Eat
  • Tesco
  • Morrisons
  • Sainsburys
  • Next
  • Boots
  • Direct Line

easyfundraising turns your everyday online shopping into free donations for your favourite cause. To do it you just start your online shopping first at easyfundraising, then shop as normal. The retailers will then make a small donation to say “thank you”. You can search for the organisation you want to support.

For charities

Register your organisation here and they will provide you with marketing tools to promote to your followers. They have a mobile app and a refer a friend scheme as well as marketing materials specificaly developed during the pandemic.

The on-line giant AMAZON

AmazonSmile is a website operated by Amazon that lets customers enjoy the same wide selection of products, low prices, and convenient shopping features as on amazon.co.uk. The difference is that when customers shop through the URL smile.amazon.co.uk, Amazon will donate 0.5% of the net purchase price (excluding VAT, returns and shipping fees) of eligible purchases to the charitable organisations selected by customers. Millions of products on AmazonSmile are eligible for donations. You will see eligible products marked “Eligible for AmazonSmile donation” on their product detail pages. You decide who you want to support and they get the money each time you shop.

For charities

You must enrol in order to appear as an option for customers to select your charitable organisation. You can only enrol if you are a registered charity, more information here

If you do not enrol your charitable organisation, including providing accurate bank account information for an electronic transfer, AmazonSmile customers cannot select your charitable organisation to receive donations from Amazon.

You can Visit org.amazon.co.uk to access tools to help you spread the word to your supporters. When you sign in to your organisation’s org.amazon.co.uk account and click on “Marketing Tools,” you can obtain a link to a customised AmazonSmile landing page for your organisation that you may use in email newsletters, on your website, or in social media posts. You'll also be able to access a downloadable website banner and social sharing widgets to reach your Facebook and Twitter followers.

On-line auctions and individual sales

Ebay for charity

To date the eBay community has raised £160 million in the UK. To get inolved simply decide what causes or charities you want to support—then sell and shop with purpose. Use the Charity Search to find your favourites among the 83,500+ enrolled charities. Explore the Charity Shop featuring millions of charitable listings.

Everyone can make an impact with eBay. Shoppers can give to eBay charities at checkout, choose symbolic gifts that give back to charity beneficiaires and buy items that benefit a charity through a percentage of profit donation. Sellers can earmark 10-100% of their items’ selling price to benefit a chosen charity—and eBay waives the same percentage in fees. Charities with highstreet shops can set up an online store on eBay to supplement their fundraising.

People can support their favourite cause every time they sell. You simply pick a charity and donation percentage (10-100%). eBay waives the same percent in fees. When the item sells, the donation is automatically sent to your charity and you get a donation receipt.

Research indicates that items that benefit charity may sell faster, even at a premium price. If you donate 10% or more your item will feature an attention-grabbing charity ribbon—it may even be listed in the Charity Shop. Plus, you reduce your seller fees and enjoy tax savings.

For charities

You have to be a registered charity and then you need to sign up on their site here

If your charity has access to quality inventory—like donated items or branded merchandise—sell it on eBay. Ebay waive 100% of your basic selling fees, so sales proceeds directly benefit your organisation in the form of unrestricted funds.

Want to find out more about generating income as a charity - look here

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Tags: charity community fundraising

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