onlineforgood is about using your online shopping to generate funds, at no cost to you, for a good cause of your choice. Hurray! A great excuse to feel good about shopping!!
It's a brilliant new way to get money where you want to see it go.
Here are some of the questions people ask about onlineforgood:
Fundamentals:
1. How does onlineforgood work?
2. What constitutes a ‘good cause’?
3. Do I pay more going via onlineforgood than by going direct to the retailer’s site?
4. Do I need to register before I can shop via onlineforgood?
5. Why should I register with onlineforgood?
6. How will you use my personal information?
7. Can I shop at another store on onlineforgood without having to log in again?
8. Will new retailers become accessible via onlineforgood?
9. What if a transaction isn’t appearing in my account?
10. What is ‘cause of the month’?
11. What if I’ve forgotten my password?
12. How much commission will my good cause earn from my shopping?
13. Can I see how much my cause has earned from my shopping?
14. Why do the retailers pay sales commissions?
15. How does onlineforgood work as a business?
16. Why don’t you offer cashback to members?
17. How do you pay my good cause?
18. Who and what is onlineforgood?
19. How do you allocate donations to my good cause?
20. What happens if you can’t find the good cause I’ve registered?
1. How does onlineforgood work?
When you shop at your chosen retailer via onlineforgood, a commission for that sale is earned by onlineforgood. Depending on the retailer, that fee will either be a percentage of your spend or a flat amount. onlineforgood enables you to direct half of this commission to any good cause of your choice.
The beauty of onlineforgood is that it works for everyone. Your good cause could be a global charity, national institution or a local organisation – you can choose whatever means most to you, be it a charity, a school, a religious institution, a benevolent foundation or a society. The choice is endless - the choice is yours! Some examples of causes our members have registered are Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity, The King David School Manchester, Harvest City Church Leicester, Animal Welfare Foundation Marine Conservation Society, and National Childbirth Trust.
If you can't find it in our search, just add a new cause from the Good Causes tab at the top of every page.
4. Do I need to register before I can shop via onlineforgood?
No. You can shop without registering, whether you come to the site direct or from a link on another site. If you come direct, your money will go to supporting cause of the month, or if you come from a ‘good cause’ site, your money will automatically go to supporting them.
5. Why should I register with onlineforgood?
First, unless you register you cannot choose your own personal good cause, and your money will default into our cause of the month. Also, most people like to be able to log in to see how much they have raised. Finally, you will be able to benefit from the convenience of personalisation – like being able to click through to their favourite shops from the homepage. The bottom line for us is that we want you to have a satisfying and simple user experience when you log in, and we have tried to make the registration process as simple and fast as possible.
6. How will you use my personal information?
We have a robust Privacy Policy, which you can click here to find out more about, but the bottom line is that the only thing we use your personal information for is to give you a better experience on the site and to tell you about special offers you are entitled to.
7. Can I shop at another retailer on onlineforgood without having to log in again?
Yes, if you want to visit another shop you just have to close the retailer site window you are currently browsing and click on the next retailer of your choice from the onlineforgood site.
8. Will new retailers become accessible via onlineforgood?
Yes, we add new retailers all the time, and the more feedback we get from you about the shops you want to visit via onlineforgood, the more we can tailor our site to your needs.
9. What if a transaction isn’t appearing in my account?
The information in your account is what we are given by the retailers you use. Retailers will operate on differing time scales: some wait until their returns policy has lapsed before releasing data to us. So, don’t worry, in most cases it takes at least 30 days for your account to update after making a purchase. If it has been longer than this, do check for any special conditions as some retailers may take up to 60 days or even 90 days, depending on their returns policy, to release their data to us. If not, please visit the Help section of our site and log a query.
10. What is ‘cause of the month’?
Here at onlineforgood we always have a good cause, which changes periodically, that deserves more attention or has some particular topical relevance: this is the cause of the month. You can choose to divert your support temporarily or permanently if you wish. Any unallocated commission amounts, where people have not chosen a good cause or given us enough information to track down their good cause, will go to AngleCause. In the absence of knowing what you want us to do with the money, we want it to go somewhere beneficial. Finally, commission earned shopping at retailers like Amazon and eBay, who do not permit tracking, will also go to cause of the month.
If there is an organisation that you think deserves to be our cause of the month and receive this support, get in touch at contact@angeltrain.co.uk and let us know.
11. What if I have forgotten my password?
No problem. Click on 'Forgotten Password', situated at the top right hand corner of every page, and enter the email address that you registered with. If you have set a security question, then you will be asked this and then sent a new password. If you don't know your registered email address, email us at contact@angeltrain.co.uk and we will help you get shopping again. We aren’t able to change your email address as we use this as your user id.
Overall commission varies from retailer to retailer, and even product to product. We tell you what to expect for each shop. Remember that its 50% of the commission that will go to your good cause of choice.
13. Can I see how much my cause has earned from my shopping?
Yes. When you are logged in, you can always see this sort of information in the Account Information on the right hand side of the screen – or you can go to your full account and profile in the Information section of the site. Remember, that there is a time lag between shopping and seeing the money go to your cause, and this depends on the retailer’s policy.
14. Why do the retailers pay sales commissions?
Many online retailers find it more cost-effective to generate sales by paying referral fees to other websites who 'publish' them on their site and send through customers, rather than more traditional advertising costs.
What makes onlineforgood a viable business is retaining half the commission as an administration charge. Our whole ethos is that good business principles, like our normal daily consumer habits, should be able to do some philanthropic good at the same time as making financial sense.
16. Why don't you offer cashback to members?
Some sites offer cashback to members. This is not what onlineforgood is about. On this site, you leverage your spending power to change your world – not just by giving to major charities, but by funding the people and organisations in your life – the schools, clubs and initiatives that we should all have the power to influence and support. This is about social and personal empowerment, which is what gets us at onlineforgood excited. You get to do your normal internet shopping at the same or better prices, and, as a result, causes who need the money get support and funding. Every time you spend money online you can feel GOOD about it because you are doing something philanthropic as well.
Payment is made by transfer or by cheque on a monthly basis, and we will make the payment once all returns periods are over and once you have reached our minimum payment threshold of £25.
18. Who and what is onlineforgood?
onlineforgood is the brainchild of two mothers who met at an antenatal class and wanted to find a way to make shopping online a way to make a difference - to benefit the charities, causes and organisations that people feel passionate about. For further information on onlineforgood feel free to email us at contact@angeltrain.co.uk .
19. How do you allocate donations to my chosen cause?
You can choose any registered charity or cause that is already registered on the site. Alternatively you can register a completely new cause. If you want to you can change your nominated cause as often as you like, or temporarily switch to our AngleCause (see definition at FAQ 10). We will allocate your donations on a purchase by purchase basis, so you can be as flexible as you wish.
Some stores, like Amazon and eBay, do not permit us to track your sales. Fees earned through shopping at these retailers are allocated to cause of the month.
20. What happens if you can’t find the good cause I’ve registered?
We will always use whatever information you have provided to track down any new good cause you have registered. If, despite best endeavours, we cannot trace this cause, we will email you and ask you to either give us further information or nominate another cause. Only if we don’t get a response to our email within a reasonable time period, we’ll put the money towards cause of the month (see definition at FAQ 10).
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