Charity - Christmas Cards

marathonic

Hi,

I've just been discussing with a friend how shocking it is that, with the current "save the planet" attitudes of many, e-cards haven't replaced standard Christmas cards more than they have at the moment.

One of the potential reasons is the fear that the recipient would see you as being a 'cheap skate' and trying to avoid the price of a stamp/card.

The discussion followed onto charities which is what led me to writing this post. Basically, I'm thinking of creating a website (too late for this year but plenty of time to create and promote it for next year) where you can purchase credits for €0.55 each (the price of a stamp) and send e-cards. All funds (less expenses) would go to charity.

Currently, the charity Christmas cards on sale donate as little as 10% to the charities. If I created the website, I'd not be charging for my time designing the website/e-cards and I'd expect the promotion to be via word of mouth so the only expenses would be Paypal/Credit Card charges and web-hosting, etc. Let's assume this comes to 10%.

The idea would be something like the following (this is just off the top of my head and would be refined):

• Users purchase 20 credits for €11
• Each credit enables a user to send their choice of an e-card to one person
• That person is made aware that the cost of the alternative, i.e. standard postage, is being donated to charity (less processing costs)
• I'd choose four Irish registered charities
• The sender could select one of the four charities or allow the recipient to choose (all proceeds from cards where neither choose a charity would be split evenly)
• The sender would receive an update if the recipient chooses a charity (kind of like a confirmation that the recipient received the e-card)
• An update would be sent to all senders and recipients after Christmas updating them on how much was donated to each Charity
• Each of the four charities should be able to post a "Thank You" message on their website to prove to everyone that the site is all above-board
• We could also provide each charity with a list of donators (assumming the donator agrees when initially making the donation - an option would be available on the website) - this would allow any donator to contact the charity for confirmation that their donation was received providing further proof that the website is all above-board

As the site grows, we could probably get further donations from companies wishing to have their name listed on the back of the cards.

How does the above sound? Has it already been done?

Saila

*joink*

7Sins

1: Get a good idea.
2: Tell the internet about it.
3: ???????
4: No profit.

marathonic

Well I'm not looking for profit from it and I don't care if someone steals the idea because the charities would benefit and I'd not have the hassle....

7Sins

marathonic wrote: »

Well I'm not looking for profit from it and I don't care if someone steals the idea because the charities would benefit and I'd not have the hassle....

I believe ya

marathonic

7Sins wrote: »

I believe ya

Well if I done the above, how could I possibly profit from it (apart from the obvious "feel-good" factor)?

Some people donate a couple of hundred euro to charities at Christmas. What difference would there be in donating time instead to set up a fully automated website - the only further action required would be adding new e-cards and withdrawing the money from the account to donate to the charity?

I think I've obviously posted this in the wrong forum.

whiskeyman

You can't put e-cards on mantlepiece.
E-cards don't get delivered by mr postie, and there's something very special about opening post that's not a bill / junk mail / fine / summons/ restraining order these days.

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

7Sins

marathonic wrote: »

Well if I done the above, how could I possibly profit from it (apart from the obvious "feel-good" factor)?

Some people donate a couple of hundred euro to charities at Christmas. What difference would there be in donating time instead to set up a fully automated website - the only further action required would be adding new e-cards and withdrawing the money from the account to donate to the charity?

I think I've obviously posted this in the wrong forum.

Would ya not like to make a few bob out of it at all at all? Charities are big business and the CEO's are millionaires in quite a few of them. :pac:

Johnny Foreigner

marathonic wrote: »

Hi,

I've just been discussing with a friend how shocking it is that, with the current "save the planet" attitudes of many, e-cards haven't replaced standard Christmas cards more than they have at the moment.

One of the potential reasons is the fear that the recipient would see you as being a 'cheap skate' and trying to avoid the price of a stamp/card.

The discussion followed onto charities which is what led me to writing this post. Basically, I'm thinking of creating a website (too late for this year but plenty of time to create and promote it for next year) where you can purchase credits for €0.55 each (the price of a stamp) and send e-cards. All funds (less expenses) would go to charity.

Currently, the charity Christmas cards on sale donate as little as 10% to the charities. If I created the website, I'd not be charging for my time designing the website/e-cards and I'd expect the promotion to be via word of mouth so the only expenses would be Paypal/Credit Card charges and web-hosting, etc. Let's assume this comes to 10%.

The idea would be something like the following (this is just off the top of my head and would be refined):

• Users purchase 20 credits for €11
• Each credit enables a user to send their choice of an e-card to one person
• That person is made aware that the cost of the alternative, i.e. standard postage, is being donated to charity (less processing costs)
• I'd choose four Irish registered charities
• The sender could select one of the four charities or allow the recipient to choose (all proceeds from cards where neither choose a charity would be split evenly)
• The sender would receive an update if the recipient chooses a charity (kind of like a confirmation that the recipient received the e-card)
• An update would be sent to all senders and recipients after Christmas updating them on how much was donated to each Charity
• Each of the four charities should be able to post a "Thank You" message on their website to prove to everyone that the site is all above-board
• We could also provide each charity with a list of donators (assumming the donator agrees when initially making the donation - an option would be available on the website) - this would allow any donator to contact the charity for confirmation that their donation was received providing further proof that the website is all above-board

As the site grows, we could probably get further donations from companies wishing to have their name listed on the back of the cards.

How does the above sound? Has it already been done?

Its a great idea.
The only problem is that you are too late. It is already being done.

Callan57

Ah go away are we to loose every old tradition .... there is something very Christmassy about getting a card on the mat from someone you haven't seen or heard from since last year.

I think it's a lovely old tradition & I'd hate to see it die out.
On the charity card issue ... I think if you buy them directly from the charity you avoid a huge % being taken by the retailer or alternatively buy them from a local charity where all the work is by voulunteers.