School is in Session at Saturday Academy on CafeGive

I didn’t even hear the word “job shadow” until my sophomore year of college. At Saturday Academy, pre-college students in Oregon and southwest Washington get the opportunity to interact with community experts and experience professional environments in ways that assist them in developing intellectually and preparing them for rewarding careers.  Like take your child to work day, but better.  You (the student) get to pick who you want to work with based on what you’re passionate about!

Founded in 1983, Saturday Academy provides instruction to more than 145,000 students with innovative programs open to second to twelfth graders.  These engaging sessions provide motivated students hands-on, in-depth learning and problem solving skills by connecting them with community experts as instructors and mentors.

Their emphasis on math, science, engineering, technology and healthcare makes Saturday Academy a great fit for CafeGive.  We look forward to helping them fundraise so they can continue to be an integral part of the future these children will live and work in.

Have you or someone you know taken a class at  Saturday Academy? We’d love to hear your story about your experience. Use the comment box to share your story.

Find an item you want to purchase on CafeGive to support Saturday Academy and send it to friends and family.   

Help support Saturday Academy by checking out their profile page on CafeGive, advocating for them and purchasing products like Computers and Electronics and Bags, Backpacks and Luggage.

Interested in learning more about CafeGive?  Check out our website, Facebook Fan page, blog and Twitter.

Advocate Community News October 2009

shopping just got easier on CafeGive

We are excited to announce the launch of CafeGive SHOP.. just in time for all your holiday shopping! Now, in addition to shopping from widgets, you can shop right from CafeGive. 

• You can click through to your favorite stores by clicking on the word "buy" below each store banner, on any "buy now" link or through the original way - by clicking the shopping cart of a  widget.
• The logo at the top of the site identifies the cause that will earn from your shopping. CafeGive automatically recognizes your cause if you arrived at our site through a widget or through a link associated with your cause (in an email, from their website, etc.), or if you identified a primary cause in your advocate profile. You can easily change your cause at anytime by clicking on the link at the top of the page. 
  

Check out the updated site  to see our new home page and to experience just how easy it is to shop.

extra earnings at CafeGive

There is a lot to celebrate at CafeGive - our site changes, your participation, the holidays and the great organizations you support. So, we came up with a way to recognize our community.  We're offering "Extra Earnings" on each transaction over $10. Between now and November 30th every purchase over $10 made through CafeGive earns an

EXTRA $1 for your cause.

 

Celebrate with us by shopping to earn extra for your cause. Today's an "extra" good time to shop your favorite stores through CafeGive for:

• Buying everything your home needs for the upcoming holidays (linens, decorations, holiday cards, etc.)

• Getting started on your holiday gift shopping! 

Do you want to support your cause, but you're not sure how to get started? Here are a few tips to get you going...

• Challenge yourself to make all your online purchases through CafeGive.
• Challenge your family and friends to make their online purchases through CafeGive.
• Build a widget with your favorite store to send via email, or to post on Facebook.
• If you tweet, tweet about CafeGive, if you blog, blog about CafeGive.  Help us spread the word about shopping for a cause. 

If you haven't purchased through CafeGive yet, now is the perfect time to start shopping.
 

You shop ...your cause earns ... everyone wins!

Extra Earnings Happening On CafeGive!

Do your friends and family need an extra push to give shopping on CafeGive a try? Well we have a solution: Extra Earnings!

Here is how it works. For ever purchase, over $10, made through a link from CafeGive or through a CafeGive widget earns an extra $1 on top of the earned commission between October 16th and November 16th. Say you buy two Halloween (just around the corner) costumes with our Costume Express Widget and the total is $100. You get free shipping (for all purchases over $75), 6% of your purchase, so $6 goes to support your cause. SOLV for example. CafeGive will add an additional $1 to your purchase. That means you just raised $7 for SOLV. Plus you just saved yourself the hassle of dealing with those Halloween warehouse super stores.

Want to help spread the news? Email, Facebook, Blog and Twitter the news! Here is an example of what you can say:

Dollar Days at CafeGive
Shopping through CafeGive just got better! From now until November 14th, [insert your favorite CafeGive cause here] earns $1 extra for every transaction made through CafeGive. CafeGive stores are a great place to:

• Shop for Halloween costumes, decoration and more!
• Buy everything your home needs for the upcoming holidays!
• Get an early start on your holiday gift shopping!

Shop directly through CafeGive or build widgets to share with friends and family. Every purchase over $10 made through CafeGive earns us an EXTRA $1. If every [cause name] supporter made two or more purchase through CafeGive and encouraged just two more people to shop through CafeGive, we’d really start to see a difference.
If you haven’t purchased through CafeGive yet, now is the perfect time to start shopping. You shop…we earn…everyone wins!
For more information on Extra Earnings Days check out CafeGive’s website.

Interested in learning more about CafeGive? Check out our website, Facebook Fan page, blog and Twitter.

Emailed, blogged, Facebooked, Twittered this message? Let us know by leaving a comment below!

Improvements on CafeGive

Welcome to the improved CafeGive! We are thrilled to welcome new faces to CafeGive, and we have added quite a few over the months. Welcome to our causes – organizations that have an interest in earning to change the world through programs for families, children, adults, the environment, animals and pets, and their owners. Welcome to our advocates, who have helped us during our beta period to date to understand how to make our mission work. We have this group to thank for the improvements we are making. And to the merchants who have agreed to work with us - here’s to them. We thank them and hope to add to their e-commerce success this holiday.

The site may look a little different to you, as we have made some improvements to our core activity of shopping – just in time for the holidays. The fundamental premise of our promise remains. By shopping online, you can earn a percentage of the purchase for your cause. You can still make a widget featuring your cause and an online store or products you love, and you can still share it through email, social networks or other web sites. The big change is that you can also shop and earn for your cause without making a widget or using a widget. CafeGive recognizes your cause when you come to the site, and the pairing of your store happens anytime you hit the “buy” link under the banner or the “buy now” link in the selected product area. Any purchase you make at the online store you selected by clicking on one of these links or on a widget will earn for your cause.

Let the shopping begin! We are ready for the holiday season with some new fun merchants, some tried and true brands, and with a new CafeGive experience. Give it a whirl and let us know what you think.

Mercy Corps Gets Bigger and Better on CafeGive

Recently I interviewed Danielle Wheeler, who runs the Phoenix Fund (a non-profit venture fund) at Mercy Corps to learn about their new World Headquarters here in Portland, Oregon opening on October 9^th. When asked “what is the best part of the building?”, Danielle responded “the Action Center, a public place to learn more about Mercy Corps.” The Action Center has technology stations where users learn how to support Mercy Corps through an interactive experience. These stations are geared towards kids and Mercy Corps has actually started relationships with local schools to help develop curriculum using the Action Center.

Danielle, who is passionate about international development, is in charge of growing the Phoenix Fund from four projects to ten by the end of 2010. From setting up recycling programs in Kosovo to solar power projects in East Timor. It is easy to see how Mercy Corps’ team of 3,700 professionals is helping to turn crisis into opportunity for millions around the world. I love this quote from their website “By trade, we are engineers, financial analysts, drivers, community organizers, project managers, public health experts, administrators, social entrepreneurs and logisticians. In spirit, we are activists, optimists, innovators and proud partners of the people we serve.”

For more information on Mercy Corps and how to bring the spirit of activism to those in need check out their profile page on CafeGive and become and advocate for them. Consider purchasing some bags, backpacks and luggage for your world traveler in support of Mercy Corps.

Interested in learning more about CafeGive? Check out our website, Facebook Fan page, blog and Twitter.

Involved with Mercy Corps or CafeGive? We want to know, leave a comment here on the blog.

Joy Rx Now Prescribed on CafeGive

Most people know someone who has had cancer. For me, it was my grandfather “Pop” who had lung cancer. I guess I can count myself lucky that I don’t know many kids who have cancer. But for those who do, Children’s Cancer Association (CCA) is a great organization. They are all about offering resources, friendship and fun – creating moments of respite and hope in the midst of life-threatening illness. They call this Joy Rx.

Children’s Cancer Association, founded in 1995 by Regina Ellis after her daughter, Alexandra, lost her battle with cancer, fills a need for non-medical care unmet by hospitals and community organizations. Located in Portland, Oregon, CCA provides services all over Oregon and Southwest Washington while reaching out to those across the nation. In 2008, CCA provided services and assistance more than 28,000 times, free of charge. Their programs include:

• The Music Rx Program: brings the healing power of music directly to hospitalized children and teens, with music therapists and a mobile music cart loaded with instruments.
• The LifeSupport Family Enrichment Program: brings hope, joy and understanding to families facing a child or teen’s serious or life-limiting illness.
• The Chemo Pal Mentor Program: matches trusted adults with children and teens undergoing chemotherapy, helping and encouraging them with the power of friendship.
• The Caring Cabin: is the only family retreat home in the Western United States, a one-of-a-kind oasis on the Oregon Coast where families can get away, at no cost, to build precious memories together.

Purchase something for a child you love from one of the many CafeGive stores such as Gap Kids, Baby Earth, Dimples and Dandelions, Land of Nod, ShoeBuy.com and help bring JoyRx to those who need it most.

For more information on Children’s Cancer Association and how to bring a little more Joy Rx to those battling cancer check out their profile page on CafeGive and become and advocate for them.

Interested in learning more about CafeGive? Check out our website, Facebook Fan page, blog and Twitter.

Involved with Children’s Cancer Association or CafeGive? We want to know, leave a comment here on the blog.

Tiny Prints Now Available on CafeGive!

Making connections. That is what CafeGive is all about in a way. We are connecting great causes, great people and great products together. It is really fun for us every time we bring on a new cause. We love to check and see who advocates for them, and the types of widgets and shopping that is inspired. It’s a real treat. And we have to say the same about new online stores. We seek a variety of brands, stores, and products that can earn for causes. It has been exciting to have some big, well known brands join our site; it has been equally fun to seek out special, niche shops that are offering unique products for shoppers who love finding a special gift or unique purchase.

And so – we’re thrilled to add TinyPrints as a featured offering for holiday cards, special occasion photo cards, photobooks, stationary and invitations. This site has a lot to offer to CafeGive advocates. The team at TinyPrints has been great to work with; they are committed to the CafeGive mission of earning for nonprofit organizations and supporting consumers who want to do so.

Make sure you take a look at their site – we know you will love the quality. Which takes us back to connections. No holiday season is complete without them and at TinyPrints, you will find beautiful and personal expressions to connect with the people you love and care about. You get great cards, and your cause gets a great earning. Thanks TinyPrints!