Retailers Reward Customers With Donation Option

Some businesses are experimenting with a new kind of gift certificate that allows customers to have a say in the company’s philanthropic decisions, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Retailers such as Crate & Barrel have sent out thousands of such certificates, and recipients then use them to log on to the nonprofit Web site DonorsChoose.org, where they can select which classrooms or schools should receive funds based on the groups’ requests for educational items, such as books, headphones, or CD players.

The items are bought through stores other than the ones that supplied the certificates. But research conducted by companies suggests that customers have a more positive image of companies that use the certificates and say they are more likely to make new purchases with a company in response.

Read The Chronicle of Philanthropy‘s coverage of DonorsChoose here and here.

(Paid subscriptions are required to view the Journal article and the Chronicle stories.)