It's simple, says Scott Garret, CEO of goodshop.com: Log onto the website, choose a nonprofit and start shopping.
Shoppers can support the local nonprofit organizations of their choice simply by buying last-minute Christmas gifts on the Web.
It's simple, according to Scott Garret, CEO of goodshop.com. Log onto the website, choose a nonprofit and start shopping. Each participating retailer donates a portion of the sale price to the charity chosen by the shopper.
"We're trying to make philanthropy really simple," he said. "It's a simple way to give back with every purchase."
More than 4,000 major retailers, including Macy's, Wal-Mart, Target, Petco and Amazon, have joined forces with goodshop.com to donate a percentage of every purchase to causes such as the ASPCA, Bethlehem's LifePath Inc., the Center for Animal Health and Welfare in Williams Township and Friends of Phillipsburg Free Public Library, Garret said.
Since it launched in 2005, Goodshop has raised more than $10 million for
causes ranging from feeding the hungry, clothing the homeless or buying
books for schools, he said.
In addition to goodshop.com, each time a person uses goodsearch.com, the company donates a penny to a cause of the user's choice, he said.
Ann Marie Surovy, development director at LifePath, said the organization has been using goodshop.com since 2007 and has seen modest results. It raised more than $100 in each of its first few years, but the organization hasn't been promoting it as much recently, she said. It only raised about $55 in 2013, she said.
"We had some traction when we first started but over the past two years, the interest has waned," she said. "I think its a great program. It's working for really large national organizations."