Having trouble fundraising? We get it - traditional fundraising methods are outdated, continually asking for donations is getting stale, and crowdfunding is unreliable. Charities often end up staging campaigns that operate at a loss and take more time and effort than they are worth. 

At Donor360, we recognize that as the world shifts to online shopping, charities have an opportunity to shift with the industry and raise more money than ever before. By merging the fundraising industry with the $871 billion eCommerce industry, Donor360 offers the most innovative way to fundraise online. 

In this article, we'll go over what an eShop powered by Donor360 is, why it’s an excellent addition to your fundraising strategy, and how it can help your organization bring in more consistent funding with less effort.

What is a Charity eShop?

A charity eShop powered by Donor360 is simply an eCommerce store for a cause! With an eShop, any organization, whether it’s an established, national charity or a local PTA, can sell products online and keep up to 50% of all sales for their cause. 

Many charities, non-profits, PTAs, and churches already sell products to raise money. However, to earn funds by selling products charities likely need to buy inventory first, take down order information, handle distribution or shipping, or warehouse products. In addition, most times charities only keep about 10% of the sales. 

With Donor360, all the logistics are handled for you. You simply pick the products you want to sell, configure how you want your shop to look, and add it to your website (or host it on the Donor360 site). It takes as little as five minutes to set up your eShop and start fundraising. 

Why Fundraise with an eShop?

Donor360 believes that eCommerce fundraising is the best way for charities to raise money without asking their supporters to spend more money. We enable your supporters to donate to you simply by buying products that they already want or need. Our goal is to disrupt the eCommerce industry by diverting some of the eCommerce giants’ profits to charities. 

Donor360 has painstakingly worked to cover all the bases for charities so that they have the opportunity to join the eCommerce industry. It comes with a lot of perks - read on to learn more. 

Access to Ethically-Made Products by Sustainable Brands

When charities fundraise by selling goods, it’s important for them to use products that align with their values. Donor360 has curated a catalog that features sustainable brands and eco-friendly products. We create relationships with our brands to ensure all the products on our site are ethically made and produced. By only selling ethically-made, Fair Trade, and organic products, your charity is helping support the greater good, beyond just your cause. 

You will never have to buy an inventory to sell products with Donor360, you simply need to choose what you want to sell from our catalog. One of the best parts - Donor360 doesn’t mark up the prices on our products--they’re the retail price you would see on the brand’s own website. 

Hassle-free Fulfillment

Your eShop doesn’t require any investment, order tracking, or order fulfillment on your end. Donor360 handles payment processing, warehousing, and shipping for you! We do all the backend work for you, so you can focus on your cause. 

Earn 30% or More on Every Purchase

Online fundraising programs like AmazonSmile only give around 0.5% of the purchase price to a charity. With your Donor360 eShop, you will earn 30% or more of the retail price of the products your supporters purchase. Again, the products on your eShop will not be marked up over regular retail prices!

Supporters Receive an Automatic Tax-Compliant Donation Receipt

Another hang-up with AmazonSmile is that donors will never receive any kind of tax deduction for their purchases. With a Donor360 eShop, customers will receive an automatic tax-compliant donation receipt for the portion of their purchase that goes to you. This process is completely automated by the Donor360 site, so you don’t have to spend any time setting it up. 

Offering donation receipts is a great way to incentivize your supporters to do their shopping with you. Who wouldn’t want to get a tax break on great products they would be buying anyway? 

Build a DonorBase to Retarget

It can be hard to keep track of donors and solicit repeat donations. Privacy laws prevent you from contacting people who give to your organization through third-party sites. With Donor360, you will be able to have access to the data generated by your eShop and retarget your supporters for sales or donations. By starting to build a DonorBase from your eShop, you have the potential to create a large-scale network of donors that can continue to be retargeted, evolve, and grow. 

Supporters can Start Fundraisers to Benefit You

You can configure your eShop to include a ‘Start a Fundraiser’ call-to-action button. From here, supporters can help expand your reach by creating their own fundraisers to benefit you. They will have the same access to our catalog of great products and can share their eCommerce fundraiser with their friends and family. As always, Donor360 will handle everything on the backend, and the portion of purchases given to charity will automatically be credited to your wallet. 

Customers Can Add Cash Donations at Checkout

You can also configure your eShop to include ‘add a cash donation’ buttons. On average, 40% of the purchasers on Donor360 choose to add a cash donation at checkout! Having pre-configured donation buttons encourages people to give bigger amounts, and we’ve found that those who add cash donations give an average of $50 per purchase.

 Your organization will receive 100% of this cash donation, minus 3% for credit card fees.

Earn Funds Year-round

If your organization relies on donations from individuals to operate, then you already know that these donations are mainly concentrated at the end of the year. The online shopping industry is open and thriving year-round, making it an “evergreen” or consistent source of fundraising. In 2020, American online shoppers spent an average of $66 billion a month with just U.S. merchants alone. 

With 79% of American adults already shopping online, eCommerce is a natural way to connect with donors. When fundraising through an eShop with Donor360, your supporters can buy products they already need and want and support you at the same time! 

Open Your eShop Today!

Donor360 understands that you want to create meaningful change in the world and we want to help. By connecting you to the eCommerce industry, we help you earn more money for your organization, faster. We handle all the tough stuff, so you can focus on your cause. 

Setting up your shop is fast and easy! Ready to get started? Sign up here or email our eShop synergist at kristen@donorthreesixty.com