Drop the Cookie and Embrace the World of Online Retail to Boost Funds for Your Non-Profit

Who hasn't ever been in this situation: a young, nervous kid knocks on your door and asks if you want to buy 10 boxes of cookies or a dozen doughnuts while their mom sits in an idling car on the street? You awkwardly tell the kid, "No thanks, I don't have doughnuts in my budget this year," and then you feel guilty as you watch them drag their feet down your driveway and slink back into the awaiting car.



As challenging as it can be to turn that kid away, it is equally challenging to be that kid, as well as the organization relying on selling those boxes of semi-stale doughnuts to meet their budget needs. It's time for non-profit organizations to give up on these lackluster, time-consuming fundraising methods and embrace to growing popularity of online commerce.



According to a 2008 report issued by Resource Interactive and Shop.org, a division of the National Retail Federation, it is estimated that by 2012 online commerce will drive up to 50% of all retail sales. In 2007 alone, online retail sales reached $175 billion, and that only represented about 7% of the $2.48 trillion for that year's total retail sales. Imagine what 50% of the total retail sales will look like in 2012! That's a big piece of pie now open to non-profit organizations.



Silent auctions, raffle ticket sales and baked-goods sales require a lot of planning, effort and inventory. They drain valuable volunteer resources and contribute to a common reason for volunteer burnout-"death-by-committee!" At best, these methods come with good weather and give people a chance to mingle and share stories. At worst, the organization is left with a lot of unusable inventory and perhaps didn't even make a profit. Many non-profits carry a strong sense of sustainability in their actions, but how wasteful is it to have 200 plastic water bottles that people don't want to buy or receive as a membership premium?



Anyone with a hint of internet savvy knows that Web sites are full of ads. You see them tucked into corners, in flashy banners or as animated boxes on the sidebars of web pages. It also doesn't take much of a business sense to know that advertising dollars support a lot of ventures. Think of those expensive Super Bowl commercial slots that corporations fight for. The problem with sporadic internet ads, however, is just that-they're sporadic, and people don't go looking all over the internet just to find a link where they buy a tube of toothpaste.



Enter the power of an online Virtual Shopping Mall. Just like a physical shopping mall, these virtual marketplaces offer resources for consumers to buy any and everything, from toothpaste to plane tickets. It is now possible for non-profit organizations to tap into their members' daily spending habits, and from these online sales an organization receives a percentage of the sale in cash, as much as 25% back. No inventory, no disheartened children, and no committees-just cash back! Imagine letting people know that buying a new pair of shoes will help their non-profit put more kids through summer camp, or buy much needed sports equipment.



Shop to Fundraise is an e-commerce, eco-friendly company that provides organizations a simple solution to raising money by providing them with a Virtual Shopping Mall, which has over 500 top retailers to choose from, with names like Target, Macy's, Home Depot, Staples, Office Max, Office Depot, Victoria's Secret, Best Buy, Priceline and many more.