Raise Money With a Virtual Spare Change Jar

We've all seen them – change jars for collecting money for a charity or local cause.
Now that concept is available online.

With the help of Change Round-Up (Coxsackie, NY), your organization can collect spare change from online purchases.

"Change Round-Up is a free service to online retailers that increases customer loyalty while helping charities," says Jane Goewey, chief marketing officer. "The service takes the fundraising concept of the spare change donation jar and applies it to the e-commerce industry," Goewey says. "Online shoppers are asked during checkout if they would like to round up their purchase price to the nearest dollar and donate their electronic spare change to a charity of their choice."

Here's how it works:

• A shopper makes an online purchase from a participating retailer, and the total amount due is calculated.
• The shopper then has the option of rounding up the purchase price and donating his/her spare change, or a larger amount of his/her choice to one of the charities listed by the retailer. (Retailers typically list three to four charity options.)
• The shopper selects a charity and completes the purchase.
• The retailer collects the funds.
• Change Round-Up bills the retailer for donations collected.
• The charity receives a check for the donation. Minus a 10-percent processing fee.

Goewey says approximately 24 percent of online shoppers who are given the option donate. Donations range from a penny to $99 with the average donation at $1.25.

All 501 (c)3 organization are eligible to participate. The only cost is a 10-percent processing fee. To add your charity, visit http://www.changeroundup.com/.

Although Change Round-Up is maintenance free, you may want to recruit local retailers to include your organization as a donation option.

"Change Round-Up will only generate donations for charities that are chosen by retailers to appear on their retail sites." Goewey says. "It is each charity's best interest then, to sign up and search through their networks to see if they have relationships with companies that sell online. We encourage charities to look through their rolodexes/databases to find supporters, vendors, donors, volunteers, board members, etc. who may have ties to companies that sell online."

Source: Jane Goewey, Chief Marketing Officer,
Change Round-Up, Coxsackie, NY
Phone (518) 731-4278
E-Mail: jgoewey(at)changeroundup.com
Website: www.ChangeRoundUp.com

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