LoyaltyClicks’ Shop for Social Change unveiled at DC Tournament
The weekend of July 30 through Aug. 1 marked a great success for both LoyaltyClicks and Street Soccer USA. The Street Soccer USA Homelessness US Cup didn’t just generate press, fanfare and a visit from Mayor Adrian M. Fenty; it served as a springboard for ShopForSocialChange.org, the SSUSA Shop To Give site created by LoyaltyClicks to enable online shoppers to support their local Street Soccer USA programming without spending any additional money.
LoyaltyClicks hosted the Shop for Social Team Challenge before and through the event held at Kastle Stadium in Washington, DC. The contest pitted 20 SSUSA teams against each other as they vied to garner the most registrations for ShopForSocialChange.org, all in an effort to win a $500 prize and ultimately raise more money for the organization. The contest generated more than 350 tournament registrations and 900 online registrations during the event. To see photos and videos from the event, visit the ShoptoGive Facebook page.
LoyaltyClicks’ Tonia Zampieri, Sales & Marketing Manager, was at the event promoting Shop for Social Change with additional games and activities. “It was a very special experience to be part of this tournament,” she said. “ShopforSocialChange.org enables supporters to ‘make a small difference in the way you shop, make a big difference in someone’s life.’ The best part? It doesn’t cost the shopper an extra penny, and raises needed funds for the programs of Street Soccer USA.”
Street Soccer USA’s director, Lawrence Cann, also saw the weekend as a success. “At Street Soccer USA we believe ending homelessness is a team sport and through our program, players learn the values and discipline they need to change their lives. Thanks to LoyaltyClicks and their customized donor shopping marketplace Shop for Social Change, everyone can support the Street Soccer USA team, and make social change through sports a reality every day.”
Paula sharing how she will shop for social change at the tournament
LoyaltyClicks will be at the SSUSA US Cup this weekend in DC
This weekend is Street Soccer USA’s Homelessness US Cup in Washington DC. With teams from around the country competing in fast-paced matches mixed in with exciting guest entertainers, the weekend promises to be filled with fun and friendly competition. LoyaltyClicks is taking full advantage of this atmosphere, and adding a bit more fun and games, with their Shop for Social Change booth, set up just next to where the matches are played.
The Shop for Social Change Team Challenge has been raging for weeks now, and will continue through most of the weekend’s activities. Visitors to the S4SC tent will be able to fill out a quick and easy registration form and help their team’s chances of winning the Challenge. With well over the required 500 team registrations already, it’s not a question of how much the winning team will win, but how many more registrations it will need to ensure that it takes home the $500 prize. The team that comes in second will not go home empty handed either, but will win two PUGG indoor soccer goals and balls for their practices. The team standings will be prominently displayed and regularly updated throughout the weekend as the new registrations come in, so everyone will be able to see who’s team is in the lead anytime they walk by.
Aside from helping their team’s chances to win the $500 prize for the Team Challenge, new registrants will have their name entered into a drawing for some additional awesome prizes, including sports gear from UnderArmour. After registering, visitors can also participate in the Kick Homelessness Kicking Challenge for a chance to have their name entered into the prize drawing an additional time.
After showing off in the kicking challenge area, take a look at what other people have shopped for through S4SC, and add your own ideas on how you plan to shop responsibly and fight homelessness. The first people to show their creativity and share their great plans are guaranteed to win prizes!
When the tournament begins wrapping up on Saturday night, all of the registrations will be counted and the winning team will be presented with their prize. The winners of the prize drawings will then be posted on Facebook at the end of the weekend. For anyone who is already on Facebook, just “Like” or become a “fan” of our page to see if you’ve won any prizes.
LoyaltyClicks will also be posting regular updates to this Facebook page for:
- New stores in the Shop for Social Change marketplace
- Exciting new site enhancements
- The latest money-saving deals available to S4SC users
With all this excitement, there’s no reason not to come by the Shop for Social Change tent and do your part to help end homelessness across the USA! If you haven’t registered yet and will not be at the US Cup this weekend, you can still help your team in the Team Challenge and raise money for SSUSA programs in your local area, just click here.
Just remember: Change the way you shop. Change a person’s life. Help end homelessness.
Smart’s ‘Shop to Give’ May Boost Nonprofits
Smart Online is expanding into a new market aimed at nonprofits.
Last month, the Durham software company, which up to now has focused on software used by small businesses, introduced its Shop To Give product. It enables supporters of a charity to go to the organization’s website to make online purchases from affiliated retailers, which in turn give a percentage of the purchase price to the charity.
One facet that differentiates Shop To Give from competing offerings is that, by working with the organization to design the shopping portal, “we are tying the [online shopping] directly to the cause and to the charity,” said Bob Dieterle, senior vice president and general manager.
It also features a social networking component designed to appeal to a younger generation of shoppers. The shopping site can easily be linked to Facebook and Linked-In pages, and there’s an “invite” section that lets people send e-mail messages to their friends telling them that they, too, can help the charity when shopping online.
“It’s a way for charities to grow their support base,” Dieterle said.
To date, Smart Online has lined up more than 300 retailers, including giant retail chains such as Best Buy, Office Depot and Target,Dieterle.
Two local groups – Animal Protection Society of Durham and SPCA of Wake County – are testing the service.
Rebecca Hankins, development director for APS of Durham, said her organization previously worked with another company that offered a similar service – but the site wasn’t attractive and the effort never really got off the ground.
She’s optimistic that Smart Online’s offering will be much better received because it has better aesthetics and because the company is helping it market to the shelter’s constituents.
“It’s so easy,” said Mondy Lamb, marketing director at the SPCA. “If you have done any online shopping at all, it is so super-simple.”
Lamb especially likes that shoppers can see exactly how much of each purchase goes to the charity, as well as receive a running total of their total contributions to date.
“One hundred percent of what you see goes to the charity,” she said.
Dieterle said it is too early to gauge how successful Shop To Give will be in raising money for the two local nonprofits.
Smart Online currently is charging retailers a separate commission ranging between 20 percent and 50 percent of the dollars that go to the charity. But Dieterle said that the pricing model is still evolving.
The company plans to work with just a few nonprofits for the next few months to work out the kinks before it starts to aggressively market the product, Dieterle said. The target market is midsize charities.
Smart Online also offers Web-based software for small business that performs back-office functions such as accounting and management of sales efforts; and e-commerce software for small businesses that want to sell products online. The technology behind the latter was adapted for Shop To Give.
Smart Online, which has been revamping its product offerings over the past few years, could use a boost in revenue. The company has been cutting its losses, thanks to an effort that included cutting its payroll – through layoffs and attrition – from 31 workers a year ago to 25 today. But its revenue has been shrinking as well.
In the latest quarter, the company posted a loss of $916,925, an improvement over a loss of $1.6 million a year earlier. Revenue totaled $363,900, versus $481,687 a year ago.
“There are going to be some bumps and stuff with our revenue as we reposition the company,” Dieterle said.
LoyaltyClicks’ newest partner: the SPCA of Wake County
LoyaltyClicks has expanded its partnership network with the launch of a new Shop To Give online marketplace for the SPCA of Wake County, based in Raleigh, NC.
The SPCA is a no-kill shelter with a mission to protect, shelter and promote adoption of homeless animals; to provide education about responsible pet ownership; and to reduce pet overpopulation through spay/neuter programs. All money generated through donations and fundraisers is put towards the many programs run by the SPCA, ranging from pet ownership seminars to community adoption events and a pet food pantry for families affected by the economic downturn.
The SPCA is very excited to have a Shop To Give online mall because every dollar coming into their organization means better care for more homeless pets in the Triangle area. The SPCA’s programming also provides a long-term economic benefit for the community. In fact, research has suggested that every $1 given to a spay/neuter program will save over $18.70 in future animal control costs over a ten-year period, and the spay/neuter program at the SPCA is one of many excellent initiatives for the care of Raleigh area pets.
With many pet-specific shops accessible through Shop To Give, it’s never been easier to care for your own pet while ensuring the well-being of homeless pets throughout the area. With thousands of pets coming through the SPCA every year, think of the impact that even a few online shopping trips through Shop To Give could have when multiplied by all of the supporters of the SPCA.
If you’d like to learn more about Shop To Give, visit the LoyaltyClicks Shop To Give site, and to register with the SPCA’s online mall, just click here.
Shop smarter. Shop for the animals. Shop to give.
LOCAL TECHNOLOGIES JOIN FORCES TO INCREASE MOBILE DONATIONS TO CHARITABLE CAUSES
Smart Online Adds Mobile App Tap-n-Give to its LoyaltyClicks Suite of Nonprofit Products
Research Triangle Park, N.C. (July 14, 2010) - Smart Online, Inc. (SOLN.OB www.smartonline.com) a leading provider of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications for nonprofit and commercial industries, is proud to announce its recent acquisition of Tap-n-Give mobile technology from iHeart Charity, LLC. The product will be part of the company’s new suite of nonprofit technology products under the LoyaltyClicks name.
“We are excited to expand our LoyaltyClicks offerings through the addition of Tap-n-Give,” said Bob Dieterle, Senior VP and General Manager of Smart Online. ”Adding Tap-n-Give gets us into the emerging smartphone space which is critical in connecting our non-profit customers with a younger and new generation of supporters.”
By purchasing Tap-n-Give, LoyaltyClicks aims to engage with charities who realize how critical harnessing mobile technology is to the growth of their support base. The application can be downloaded through any Apple mobile device by searching Tap-n-Give on the app store. It costs $0.99 and provides custom images from each partner charity. Full sets of images may be purchased for $1.99.
LoyaltyClicks’ team members will work closely with Tap-n-Give’s existing causes, including Striving for More, New Generation Energy, Hearts With Haiti and SPCA of Wake County, to create and promote virtual campaigns that all individuals with Smart Phones can quickly tap into.
“Our LoyaltyClicks team is working hard to create a new and exciting vision for Tap-n-Give” said Tonia Zampieri, who leads LoyaltyClicks Sales and Marketing for Smart Online. “Think crowd sourcing through your Smart Phone – one tap repeated by many to collectively support an important cause.”
About LoyaltyClicks™:
LoyaltyClicks™ is a suite of products being produced by Smart Online, Inc. (OTCBB:SOLN), a designer and developer of web-based software for commercial and nonprofit organizations ). In addition to LoyaltyClicks, Smart Online offers OneBiz® to small businesses and its imart® platform of cloud-based applications for direct sales organizations (DSO) and membership associations. The company is based in Research Triangle Park, NC. For more information, please visit www.smartonline.com.
NONPROFITS EMBRACE LOYALTYCLICKS
Happy July 4th All!
Please take a moment to read the latest press release regarding our new partnership with NYC-based Street Soccer USA.
CONNECTING CHARITIES AND DONORS IN MORE PLACES
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC (July 2, 2010) – Smart Online, Inc. (SOLN.OB, www.smartonline.com), a leading provider of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications for nonprofit and commercial industries, has announced Street Soccer USA (SSUSA) as one of the newest customers of LoyaltyClicks, the company’s nonprofit support division. LoyaltyClicks’ current offering is a customized marketplace that enables charitable organizations to help their supporters make donations while shopping online at their favorite stores.
“We are proud to add SSUSA to our growing roster of nonprofits integrating LoyaltyClicks as a way of increasing donations without having to make a large investment of time and money,” said Bob Dieterle, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Smart Online. “Our customized online marketplaces are the best way for charitable organizations to help people donate 24/7. Simply by shopping at online merchants they already frequent, they can donate to an organization, without having to open their pocketbooks.”
LoyaltyClicks taps into the purchasing power of donors by customizing an online shopping gateway so that donors already shopping online can support their organizations of choice. Unlike other web services that allow anyone to claim to be a nonprofit and accept donations, LoyaltyClicks is a private label online service, so charities maintain total control of their brand and identity with a consistent look and feel. When a donor makes a purchase at the merchant’s site, the charity receives a percentage of the sales — ranging from 2 -10 percent depending on the particular store — and the donor is able to see how much went to their cause through their online donor statement.
To help a charity spread the word to their donors, LoyaltyClicks offers a marketing package for the organization and any affiliated groups. This would include web banners, an html email template, print advertisement, a viral marketing plan, and other promotional items.
Since 2009, SSUSA has been incubated under the HELP USA umbrellas of social services, with a mission of soccer for social change, because “alleviating homelessness is a team sport.” In just a few years, SSUSA has grown from one program to an 18-city league of programs across the country from Los Angeles to New York. Despite a strong base of active donors, SSUSA sought out on a mission to make giving to their organization easier.
“At Street Soccer USA we believe ending homelessness is a team sport and through our program, players learn the values and discipline they need to change their lives, said Lawrence Cann Director of Street Soccer USA. “Thanks to LoyaltyClicks and their customized donor shopping marketplace, Shop for Social Change everyone can support the Street Soccer USA team, and make social change through sports a reality everyday.”
SSUSA is currently preparing to host the 2010 US Street Soccer Cup in the Washington Kastles stadium in Washington, D.C. The event will be held from July 30 through August 1, and local street soccer teams from across the US will be participating. The event is meant to act as a catalyst for life-changing community, personal, and grassroots development programs among the homeless.
Exponential times call for a new mindset
To reach an audience of 50 million people, it took radio 38 years. For television, it took 1
3 years. The internet reached that many people in four years, while iPod took three years, and Facebook took only two.
The exponential nature of technology development and adoption means that businesses and individuals must keep themselves abreast and ahead of the newest trends, because by the time you figure one system out it’s already been replaced by the latest and greatest new development. If you’d like an illustration, check out the video Did You Know?
Constant upgrading may be possible for larger companies, but small businesses and charities don’t have the same amount of money and time to devote to always staying fresh with every new release and update for software. Therefore, the whole idea of “work smart, not hard” is becoming a lifestyle rather than just good advice in many organizations today.
When it comes to getting your message out to the people who will make things happen for your organization, it’s well past time to embrace the capabilities of mailings and emails. Don’t get me wrong! These tools are crucial when it comes to the development and engagement of a loyal support base, but social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are the “now” of marketing and publicity, and organizations need to constantly be on the lookout for the future.
As a partner to charities, large and small, LoyaltyClicks strives to be a resource, not only for products and services, but also for information regarding the latest trends and technologies that can be useful to our partners.
RailHawks – Bark in the Park Event
Are you a soccer fan? Do you hate leaving your dog at home in this beautiful warm weather while you are out enjoying yourself all weekend? Well you and your favorite furry friend are in luck! The Carolina RailHawks, in cooperation with the SPCA, are hosting a bring your dog to the ballpark event.
This Saturday, June 19, the Carolina RailHawks play the Crystal Palace Baltimore. Tickets are $12 and $17 per person. If you want your dog to come, buy a “Dog Ticket” for $3 for him or her. All dog ticket proceeds go straight to the SPCA. Game time is 7:00 pm.
Carolina RailHawks
Date: Saturday, June 19, 2010
Time: 7:00 PM – 9:15 PM
Address:
201 Soccer Park Drive
Cary, NC 27511
After the game you can head over to the SPCA of Wake County’s Online Shopping Mall to buy toys and treats for your dog which will help the SPCA of Wake county even further! A percentage of all of your purchases goes back to the charity and you don’t have to spend any additional money!
Street Soccer USA Team Challenge – register NOW!
Street Soccer USA
The Street Soccer USA Cup, held in Washington, D.C., will bring local street soccer teams together from around the country and catalyze the development of community, personal, and grassroots development programs among the homeless.
Leading up to this event at the end of July, LoyaltyClicks is sponsoring the Team Challenge for all local street soccer teams. The team that gathers the most registrations on the Shop for Social Change online marketplace will win $500 for its travel and equipment expenses!
Anyone and everyone can register! The team standings will be updated regularly leading up to the US Cup, so encourage everyone you know to register and begin shopping for social change!
Smart Online to match donations to the APS of Durham, up to $500, in June
Loyalty Clicks’ Shop To Give – How easy it is for a charity’s supporters to make a difference
Bob Dieterle
My dryer broke the other week just 4 years after we had bought it. However, this hassle ended up doing some good for the Animal Protection Society (APS) of Durham. My wife, who is an ardent supporter of the APS, suggested that we purchase our new dryer through the APS’ new Shop To Give online shopping mall. After doing the research, we bought our new dryer online at Best Buy via the Shop To Give mall and after the dryer shipped the APS received a $11.50 sales commission from Best Buy.
I am the general manager at Smart Online, the Durham-based company that developed Shop To Give and, to raise awareness for this new application, I have decided to match every dollar of commissions earned up to $500 for the month of June. So actually the APS is getting $23 for the replacement of that darn broken dryer of mine!
I am blogging about this because I truly believe in the power of the masses. Imagine if all of the volunteers and supporters of the APS started to shop through Shop To Give, where each purchase generates about $1 in new funds back to the APS. Can we get 500 people to do this monthly?
Visit the Shop To Give section of LoyaltyClicks.com to learn exactly how the process works!
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