When ShopOnPurpose founder Kevin Reed finally located his uncle, the reunion was bittersweet. Instead of seeing the eccentric prankster he remembered from his youth, his eyes fell upon a very sick man confined to a hospital bed. Three weeks later, Mr. Reed watched his uncle die peacefully in a Hospice house after suffering through a lifetime of drug and alcohol addiction that sometimes drove him to living on the streets. The cause of death was officially listed as lung cancer but the real story was much more complicated says Mr. Reed. The question that really haunted me was what else could I have done to make a difference in his life? He answered that question a few months later when he launched ShopOnPurpose.com.
Mr. Reeds company donates between 1% and 31% of every dollar a shopper spends at hundreds of participating stores, from iTunes to Walmart. Now, he is launching a campaign to give away $ 1,000,000 to encourage people to use ShopOnPurpose.com every time they shop online. We will give away $ 50,000 to the first charity that gets 100,000 supporters on ShopOnPurpose. The next ten get $ 25,000 and everyone else gets $ 10,000. To keep it fair for smaller charities, he is also giving away $ 5,000 to the first ten small charities that get 10,000 supporters, $ 2,500 to the next 100, and $ 1,000 to every other small charity that get 10,000 supporters on ShopOnPurpose. All people have to do is spread the word about ShopOnPurpose. There isnt an easier way to earn money for your favorite cause.
A few months before my uncle died, I was reading another article about Warren Buffett giving away billions of dollars. It really struck a nerve with me because everyone wants to be charitable but a lot of folks are struggling to just pay their mortgage. Even if Warren follows through with his pledge to give away 99% of his wealth, hell still be able to eke out a pretty comfortable living on the $ 400 million he will have left Kevin says with a wry smile. Competitive to a fault, (Kevin just completed an Ironman Triathlon, a grueling one day event consisting of a 2.4 mile ocean swim and a 112 mile bike race followed by a full 26.2 mile marathon) Mr. Reed set out to find a way to beat the billionaires at the philanthropy game. It didnt take Kevin, an MBA candidate at the University of Florida, very long to map out a plan to give everyone whos not on the Forbes List a chance to experience the joy of making a difference.
ShopOnPurpose.com is a platform that lets shoppers designate a worthy cause to receive a percentage of every dollar spent at hundreds of popular online stores. We had already established marketing relationships with dozens of retailers. They were paying us to drive traffic to their stores, so for the retailers, its just another cost of doing business. ShopOnPurpose directs those marketing fees to thousands of great causes, from local homeless shelters to international relief agencies. The exciting thing about ShopOnPurpose is that any person can launch a worldwide fundraising campaign for a cause that matters to them. Yesterday, I saw a coffee can in a restaurant with a picture of a very sick baby on it. Someone was collecting donations so this child could get the medical care she needed. ShopOnPurpose is like a virtual coffee can that you help fill up every time you buy something online. It costs nothing but can make a huge difference to someone in need.
To learn more about ShopOnPurpose and the Million Dollar Giveaway, visit http://www.ShopOnPurpose.com or email pr(at)shoponpurpose(dot)com.
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