NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - May 25, 2010) - Online education charity DonorsChoose.org has partnered with Groupon, a nationwide daily deal site, to offer Groupon's largest-ever charity deal, which went live on Monday, May 24. The deal allows Groupon subscribers to double their donation dollars for classroom project requests submitted by public school teachers at DonorsChoose.org. The partnership will put $1 million worth of critical resources and supplies in public school classrooms around the country, while highlighting a new, unexplored method of engaging individuals in philanthropy. Hundreds of charitable purchases were made by Groupon subscribers within the first 24 hours of the sale.
"Considering Groupon's origin as a group action/fundraising platform called The Point, creative fundraising is in our DNA," said Andrew Mason, founder of Groupon. "We love finding creative ways to channel the collective buying power of our customers back into their communities and are proud to be working with DonorsChoose.org."
Groupon will be offering the DonorsChoose.org opportunity to subscribers as a system-wide side deal through Sunday, May 30. Thanks to a matching grant from The Pershing Square Foundation, the philanthropic arm of New York investment firm Pershing Square Capital Management, Groupon subscribers will be able to buy DonorsChoose.org credits for 50% off. The deal works like this: $20 in DonorsChoose.org credit can be purchased for $10, $500 for $250, and so on. Additional options available for purchase are below:
- $200 credit sold for $100
- $100 credit sold for $50
- $50 credit sold for $25
"All week, Groupon subscribers -- anyone who signs up at Groupon.com -- can make a huge difference in the lives of students and teachers at a deep discount," said DonorsChoose.org founder Charles Best. "Our partnership with Groupon seemed like an especially perfect marriage because both of our sites are rooted in the power of the collective. This is an incredible opportunity to use a retail model to make charity unbelievably accessible to thousands more people."
Groupon subscribers who purchase credit receive a code that will apply the deal's face value to any classroom project of their choosing at DonorsChoose.org. Once a project is fully funded, DonorsChoose.org will purchase the requested materials and send them directly to the classroom. All donors receive photos of the project taking place, a thank-you letter from the teacher, and a cost report showing how each dollar was spent. Donors who fund more than $100 will also receive hand-written thank-you letters from the students.
Groupon uses the principles of collective buying to negotiate unprecedented deals with top businesses. Groupon subscribers receive free daily emails alerting them to the deal. These deals are only activated if a minimum number of people agree to buy, encouraging subscribers to share the promotion with family and friends via social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter. So far, this innovative approach to e-commerce has generated millions in revenue for local businesses while saving more than 5 million subscribers more than $200 million.
About DonorsChoose.org
Founded in 2000, DonorsChoose.org is a nonprofit website where public school teachers describe specific educational projects for their students, and donors can choose the projects they want to support. After completing a project, the donor hears back from the classroom they supported in the form of photographs and student thank-you letters.
To date, 127,000 public and charter school teachers have used the site to secure funding for $53 million in books, art supplies, technology, and other resources that their students need to learn. Through www.donorschoose.org individuals from all walks of life have helped 3 million students from low-income families.
About Groupon
Groupon, launched in November 2008 in Chicago, features a daily deal on the best stuff to do, eat, see and buy in more than 140 cities across the world. Groupon uses collective buying power to offer unbeatable prices and provide a win-win for businesses and consumers. To get Groupon's daily free email for the best in your city, subscribe at http://www.groupon.com. To get the Groupon iPhone app, visit http://gr.pn/moblapp. To learn more on how to become a featured business on Groupon, visit http://www.grouponworks.com.
Contact Information:
Media Contact:
DonorsChoose.org
Jeremy Robinson-Leon
(ph) 212.784.5702
Jeremy@GroupGordon.com