Online Shopping that is Free to Give (free2give)
19 June 2000 at 1:06 pm
Online retailing in Australia gave itself to a good cause this month with the launch of www.free2give.com.au. It’s a shopping mall with a difference. Every time someone shops, their favourite charity receives a donation, at no extra cost to them.
Cathryn Baker from free2give says it’s the first Australian shopping mall to introduce this concept and up to five percent of the purchase price of any item bought via the site will go to charity.
The online charity shopping malls have been operating in the US for several years. Some notables are www.shop2give.com , www.igive.com , www.4charity.com , and www.greatergood.com .
Shoppers who buy via free2give do not pay any more for their goods and services as the donation comes from the fee the retailers pay online service for sending customers to their store.
The fee is a percentage of the purchase price which free2give then splits with the charity chosen by the shopper.
There are over 40 leading retailers in the free2give shopping mall.
Free2gives Managing Director, Simon Whiston says the first response from many charities was that it is too good to be true!
‘Charities have valuable reputations to protect so it was important for them to investigate our proposal thoroughly and perform due diligence before committing, and the result is that we now have over 50 of Australia’s most-loved charities as partners,’ he says.
The free2give site also includes information about the charities, their work and how funding will help them and links to their sites.
As well a ‘Good News Club’ e-newsletter will advise registered shoppers of the money raised, and special appeals.
