Change Round-up: new checkout addon lets your website buyers donate to charity

[regic]

When checking out in stores, customers sometimes find a small jar in which they can deposit the change from their purchase, or more, that goes to a charity. Such change jars have proven successful for many charities as one of many methods to raise funds. What seems like a purely bricks-and-mortar concept now is being used by an online start-up that’s replicating the spare change concept for web retailers.

The just-launched Change Round-Up is a service free to e-retailers that integrates into their checkout process and enables customers to donate money to charity...

full article: http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=19129

[regic]

This is now available for Yahoo Stores, Miva Merchant 5+, and DigiShop 4.0+

From their site:

The concept is simple: Allow online consumers to donate spare change online.

Online shoppers are asked during checkout at their favorite retail websites if they would like to “round-up” their total purchase price to the nearest dollar and donate that “spare change”.

Shoppers/Donors can choose which non-profit will receive their donation and are also given the option to enter in a different amount to donate. Change Round-Up  manages the network of online retailers and non-profits and ensures integrity of the system

By supporting non-profit organizations via Change Round-Up, retailers gain:

    * Highly visible, yet inexpensive PR
    * Increased customer retention
    * Valuable customer research
    * The ability to make a positive impact
      on their communities

https://www.changeroundup.com/default.aspx

From Internet Retailer:

Once integrated, the ­system asks customers ­during an e-retailer’s checkout ­process if they would like to round up their purchase price to the ­nearest dollar and donate that amount to a ­charity. They then choose a charity—one or more selected by the e-retailer—from a dropdown list and the rounded-up amount automatically is ­calculated. At that point, customers are able to enter a larger donation if they choose. The transaction is ­completed as usual with the retailer collecting the full payment. Because the merchant collects the larger amount as part of the sale, the ­merchant pays the credit card discount rate on the entire amount of the transaction. Change Round-Up reimburses the ­merchants for the discount that they pay on the ­contributed portion.

full article: http://www.internetretailer.com/article.asp?id=19362

[amy]

The concept is simple: Allow online consumers to donate spare change online.

Interesting concept but I already have a big orange and black BuySafe widget asking for handouts during checkout.    Buyers will tolerate one widget but probably not two.