Nonprofit organizations are always looking for innovative ways to raise funds. And in this economic climate, they have had to get even more creative.
But one for-profit company has found a way both to profit and raise money for non-profit organizations and schools.
And several Washington schools have already benefitted from the business venture.
JJ Ramberg, 39, host of “Your Business” on MSNBC, and her brother, Ken Ramberg, 44, an entrepreneur, started a company called GoodSearch based in Los Angeles, in 2005.
GoodSearch.com is a Yahoo-powered search engine. Each time someone searches anything on the GoodSearch Web site, the company donates one penny to any non-profit or school of the user’s choice.
“Just like any search engine, advertisers pay to post their advertisements on the site,” JJ Ramberg said.
Then, GoodSearch donates a penny per search to the specified organization.
“The idea was for people to support their favorite cause while doing something they already do and without having to spend any extra time or money,” JJ Ramberg said.
This simple idea was so popular, JJ Ramberg and her brother launched GoodShop in 2007 with a similar premise.
At GoodShop.com, users can first specify the nonprofit or school to which they would like their donation to go and then start shopping at thousands of different online stores, including Best Buy, Kohl’s, ebay and many other popular retailers.
Each participating retailer will donate a certain percentage of the money spent by shoppers to the organization designated by the shopper.
These percentages range anywhere from .5 percent to 7 percent.
The site also includes coupons so shoppers can save money while benefitting their chosen charity.
JJ Ramberg said response from both shoppers and organizations has been great since the inception of the company.
“We have so many organizations using the sites. We’re now linked to more than 85,000 non-profits and schools, and we get about 100 new applications a day,” JJ Ramberg said.
The applications come from two sources: the organizations themselves and the people using the two Web sites.
This was how many Washington schools including Central Grade School, Saint Patrick School, Grade School District 52 and Washington Community High School Band Boosters, have benefited from GoodSearch and GoodShop.
After a new non-profit or school is approved to receive donations, the money earned for that organization can be tracked on the Web site.
Since being added to the site, the WCHS Band Boosters have earned $106.42 from 9,986 searches and $15.57 from shoppers.
Washington Grade School District 52 has a GoodSearch link on its Web site. The district has so far earned $347.43 from searches and $3 from shopping.
This money gets directly deposited into the general education fund for the district.
Although it is a small amount of money, superintendent Dr. John Tignor said every little bit helps.
“It is absolutely a great thing anytime we can find opportunities to supplement the funds we have, because all the money we get truly goes to educating students,” Tignor said.
Anyone can go to GoodSearch.com or GoodShop.com to suggest a non-profit organization or school and start shopping, or searching, to earn money for their favorite charity.
Washington, Ill. —
