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Selling products with a percentage going to a Charity?

by MattStrange
11 replies
Hi Guys,

I'm wanting to give back to the community and give a percentage of income of a product that i'm selling to a charity of my choice.

What are your thoughts on this? Is it unethical to promote a product that a percentage goes to a charity?

I want to offer a freemium type product. Basically a user can use my product at no costs, if the user wants to upgrade for more features they can do...

This is where i'm going to experiment a little and give them the option on how much they think the product is worth...$20, $35, $55 e.t.c...

On the page where they can purchase or upgrade the product i will let them know a percentage goes to this charity... What do you think?

Cheers
Matt
#charity #percentage #products #selling
  • Profile picture of the author nmwf
    For some reason, the nagging suspicion of required laws comes to mind. Problem is, I don't know what those laws are, so you'll need to search for them (f they even exist): https://www.google.com/search?q=charity+laws

    Other than that, you might want to use a 3rd party charity site for support. People may be more willing to support a well-known organization than an unknown vender. See if there's a way you can tie your product/services to that organization even if it's just to satisfy concerned consumers.
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  • Profile picture of the author totalprocessing.net
    I can see issues, if you are not a well known company like Starbucks or some other well known and established company. I don't imagine many will be able to overcome the trust factor to make a purchasing decision and may even decide not to purchase thinking there may be some sort of scam involved..

    This is by no means any reflection on your honest intentions. It's just reality.
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  • Profile picture of the author ulterios
    I feel the 2 people above are hitting the nail right on the head.

    First, you have to make sure that where you are, the laws (if any) are followed so that you don't have any kind of legal or financial issues later.

    Also, it might be hard for people to trust and believe in any kind of charity proceeds you might be offering.disclosing. Unfortunately there are too many people who are trying to pull scams of some sort using the charity angle, so that puts good honest people like yourself who just want to give back at a disadvantage for actually being able to help.
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  • Profile picture of the author pewpewpewmonkeys
    Is it unethical to promote a product that a percentage goes to a charity?
    Not at all.

    Some people are bringing up legal questions, but as long as you do what you say then there's really not much to worry about.
    This is where i'm going to experiment a little and give them the option on how much they think the product is worth...$20, $35, $55 e.t.c...
    They will go with the lowest possible.
    On the page where they can purchase or upgrade the product i will let them know a percentage goes to this charity... What do you think?
    From personal experience, it will make very little difference. If someone wants a product, then he wants the product.
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    Some cause-oriented hackers recently hacked one of my websites. So I researched what they're about and then donated a large sum of money to the entity they hate the most.

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  • Profile picture of the author MattStrange
    Excellent! Thankyou for your feedback. The organisation that the proceeds will go towards is rather small and there might be a chance that my business can go on there site.

    I'm not sure how users will see it as a scam, say a product is $50, they will pay for it, i'm not ripping or taking more off them. I guess saying, a part of there money goes towards a charity then don't proceed with this is the scammy part.. hmm never looked at it this way before...
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    • Profile picture of the author imakeitwork
      Sevenly.org is built on a similar way. Google Dale Patridge on more information how they did that.
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    • Profile picture of the author ihossain
      First, you have to make sure that where you are, the laws are followed so that you don't have any kind of legal or financial issues later.You need to justify your market and must find out qualified customers...
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  • Profile picture of the author kemilus
    seriouly, i do not agree your point about selling your products to the charity, charity is the place where it help the people who have difficult, so i suggest you'd better not do this like that, but from the other aspects, i think that buying something from others is their freedom, if they want
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    • Profile picture of the author MattStrange
      Originally Posted by kemilus View Post

      seriouly, i do not agree your point about selling your products to the charity, charity is the place where it help the people who have difficult, so i suggest you'd better not do this like that, but from the other aspects, i think that buying something from others is their freedom, if they want
      I think you misunderstood, i'm not selling anything to a charity.
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  • Profile picture of the author Freebiequeen1999
    I think offering people a choice of what price to pay will not work

    If the "product" is just a "report" or something, they either want it or not, the charity won't make them want it. You could put a link to the charity on your site, mention that a portion of sales go there, maybe get your link on their site. That sounds more realistic and "real" IMHO. People won't buy the product just to help the charity (they could just donate) but it may give a good feeling an you can help this charity.

    Making the purchase itself seem like a donation is where you could get in trouble with taxes write offs etc JMO (at least in the usa)
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    • Profile picture of the author MattStrange
      Originally Posted by Freebiequeen1999 View Post

      I think offering people a choice of what price to pay will not work

      If the "product" is just a "report" or something, they either want it or not, the charity won't make them want it. You could put a link to the charity on your site, mention that a portion of sales go there, maybe get your link on their site. That sounds more realistic and "real" IMHO. People won't buy the product just to help the charity (they could just donate) but it may give a good feeling an you can help this charity.

      Making the purchase itself seem like a donation is where you could get in trouble with taxes write offs etc JMO (at least in the usa)
      Thankyou for that. Yes it was going to be only a small percentage that goes to the charity, more as a gesture of goodwill.
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