Non-Profits Open up Pop-Up Virtual Stores

By now, most of us have heard the term ‘pop-up store’, an overnight sensation where a store just literally pops up out a nowhere for a specific period of time.  This is popular over the holiday season.

Charitable Commerce on online charity auction sites like BiddingForGood, Ebay and CharityBuzz, allows non-profits to open up their own virtual pop-up store to raise funds.  This form of fundraising is an online marketplace that may be open for an average of 2-6 weeks, filled with unique and hard to get items not found in traditional stores.

So why would a non-profit want to open up a virtual storefront? Most of us know that many non-profits may be short-staffed and face strict year over year budget cuts.  A storefront sounds like it a lot of work and is just one more task to try to get volunteers for.  So, what is the upside?

In traditional commerce, retailers and merchants are the ones to open up stores and sell goods.  In traditional Charitable Commerce, these same retailers or merchants donate a portion of sales to non-profits, usually less than 10%.  In the BiddingForGood model of Charitable Commerce, the non-profits themselves become the merchant and they keep at at least 91% of their sales, have control over their items and gain customers that they can add to their donor base.

Non-profits have even started thinking like retailers.  They are involved in creating their merchandizing mix and are thinking about what kinds of items they are going to stock their shelves with. They are thinking about how they will market and promote their store, and what value they will be giving to their consumer. They might even be thinking about who their consumer is. 

In a recent study conducted by BiddingForGood, it was found that these consumers are:

• Committed individuals who participate in their community, who volunteer, who give back, and who are motivated to shop responsibly.
• More likely to buy from a company that is supporting causes they care about.
• More likely to shop generously, knowing that the proceeds are going to an organization in their community.
• Using discretionary household funds to purchase items that they want and need. They are buying travel, apparel, services, technology, educational products and more.
• Affluent, educated and connected. They are a group of consumers that can drive your business.

At the end of the day, non-profits are becoming all the wiser.  They are cutting out the middle man and becoming store owners themselves. They are learning how to become retailers to survive the budget cuts as the needs for their services continue to grow.

Non-profits are using pop-up virtual stores for supplemental funds and an as alternative vehicle for fundraising. At the same time, there is a growing class of consumers who are interested in social goodness.  I gather this is a pretty exciting opportunity for non-profits as well as consumers. I look forward to all the places the two can meet for ‘feel good’ transactions.