August 9, 2001 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Several companies that run major charity sites are facing financial troubles. GreaterGood.com, one of the first charity online shopping malls, has shut down after its board of directors voted last month to halt further investment in the company and put it up for sale.
The online site raised about $4-million for charities in 2000, according to Lynn Ridenour, GreaterGood’s president.
Last fall, the three-year-old company began to break even, but the economic slowdown drained away advertising dollars, leading to a loss in revenue, says Paul Goodrich, a board member. In December, some charity beneficiaries complained about delays in receiving money owed to them.
GreaterGood, in Seattle, persuaded retailers to pay a percentage of each sale generated by GreaterGood to charity. GreaterGood also operated five “click-to-donate” sites, such as the Hunger Site, through which corporate sponsors agreed to give money to charities based on the number of “clicks” online visitors recorded.
The Hunger Site generated donations of more than 30 million pounds of food, Mr. Goodrich says. In addition, he says the Rainforest Site provided funds to protect 200 million square feet of rain forest from destruction, and the Breast Cancer Site paid for about 1,000 mammograms.
Though the company has ceased operations, it may start up again under new management. Several parties have shown an interest in purchasing GreaterGood’s assets from the Silicon Valley Bank of Seattle, Mr. Goodrich says.
Other charity-related Internet businesses are also making changes in their business status:
- CharitEx, a New York company (http://www.charitex.com) that provides online financial-management tools for nonprofit organizations, is also seeking a buyer. The company’s president, Peter Martino, says he doesn’t think companies as small as his can survive without a connection to a larger business.
- EContributor.com (http://www.econtributor.com), which sells online fund-raising tools to nonprofit groups, filed for bankruptcy and was bought by Votenet Solutions (http://www.votenet.com), a Washington company that offers technology services for public-policy advocacy. The acquisition will be complete by the end of August and will not affect eContributor’s services, says Jeri Richardson, spokeswoman for the Virginia company.
