Mfarhanonline Social Media News: Frank Barry , professional services manager at Blackbaud and blogger at NetWits ThinkTank , helps non-profits use the Internet for digital communication, social media and fundraising so they can focus on making an impact and achieving their missions. Find Frank on Twitter @franswaa . Groupon , the market leader in the group buying business, has become a household name over the past 18 months. They're preparing for a $15 billion dollar IPO after rejecting Google’s sizable $6 billion dollar offer. That didn’t stop Google from entering the market. Soon after, Google decided to hit the group buying scene by confirming that Google Offers is, in fact, a reality. The sheer size and reach of Google makes it an immediate threat. LivingSocial, another well-known player in this space, seems to be holding their own after a $175 million dollar investment from Amazon . And to top it all off, Facebook recently launched a group buying prototype called "Buy with Friends" that will work with Facebook credits. With a user base of 600 million, Facebook is sure to disrupt the group buying market when they launch to the public. But the location-based group buying goodness doesn't stop with the for-profit sector. Sites like Deals for Deeds, CauseOn, Deal Gooder, Sharing Spree and DealTwo have recently emerged on the scene with a subtle differentiator — they've each built their platforms and business models with a charitable focus in mind. Each of these platforms is interested in bringing people great deals while also doing some good. Let's take a quick look at how Groupon, LivingSocial and five additional group buying companies are supporting charitable work. 1. Groupon Groupon is leading the way in this space mostly because they were first-to-market with a group buying location-based coupon model. They've got over 35! million registered users and serve 250 total markets around the world. By being the biggest and having the most brand recognition, they attract the masses — non-profits included. Lights Camera Help gave fundraising on Groupon a shot and raised $150 dollars in 24 hours. An L.A. NPR member station sold 868 $50 dollar memberships at a discounted rate of $25 dollars using Groupon. After the 50% cut that Groupon takes, KCRW raised nearly $11,000 dollars. That's a pretty good return for KCRW, Southern California’s leading National Public Radio affiliate. To date, one of the most successful fundraisers on Groupon happened when they teamed up with DonorsChoose.org back in May 2010. By becoming Groupon’s featured daily deal, DonorsChoose.org saw close to 1,500 donations come in, raising over $162,000 dollars in support of classrooms in need. In this deal, Groupon users had the option to purchase half price credits for $20, $50, $100 or $250 that could be redeemed on DonorsChoose.org, a website that enables grassroots fundraising in support of teachers and classrooms around the world. Donations were matched by a grant from the Pershing Square Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Pershing Square Capital. 2. Goodtwo Goodtwo has taken a page out of the more traditional online peer-to-peer fundraising model by allowing non-profits and individuals (a.k.a. free agent fundraisers ) to create their own fundraising page where they can set a goal, offer special deals to their supporters and track their progress. You can also include information about your mission and goals as well as multimedia, such as photos and a video that help you tell your story. Goodtwo combines group buying with fundraising by allowing those that set up a fundraising page to choose from a menu of deals that offer supporters 50% or more off at shops, restaurants, and other businesses. According to the team at goodtwo, "Fundraisers host deals on dedicated pages customized for their cause that they can then offer to their supporters for ! a limite d time. For each deal sold through the page, the fundraiser keeps half the profit." Check out ow Reach out and Read is using Goodtwo to get a better sense of what's going on over there. 3. Deals for Deeds Deals for Deeds created a model that allows non-profits to submit a specific project along with a fundraising goal. Registered Deals for Deeds users are then able to vote on which non-profit cause they'd like to see featured on the website. Once the votes have been tallied, Deals For Deeds makes the announcement and dedicates a week's worth of deals toward the non-profit’s fundraising goal. Deals for Deeds donates a minimum of 5% of every purchase to the charity. Josh Hoffman, co-founder of Deals for Deeds, answered a question of mine on Quora: "Each week, we partner with a different non-profit organization. 5-10% of all sales throughout the week go directly to support their work. All of the fundraising on our site is cause/goal oriented so our members know exactly how the money is being used and there is a progress meter on the top of the home page that indicates how close we are to reaching the goal." Additionally, Deals for Deeds occasionally allows non-profits to offer their own deals on the site with 100% of the proceeds going back to the charity. To date, Deals for Deeds has helped more than 15 local charities . 4. DealGooder DealGooder views their business through a simple yet important lens. According to the team, they "believe that everyone has the ability to make the world a bit better each day. And if you can have fun while doing it, well, we think that's a win/win and a message worth spreading." Of all the group buying platforms out there, DealGooder offers the most incentive for non-profits to participate by giving 50% of every purchase back to local charities. Check out this week's charity to get an idea of how DeelGooder is impacting its local community. 5. CauseOn CauseOn is group buying with a heart. Its approach is similar to Deals for Deeds and DealGooder in ! that the y give a portion of each deal's profits back to a carefully selected non-profit. According to the team at CauseOn, "We return 15-20% of our revenue from every offer directly to one of our carefully selected charities. And yes, you can pick your own favorite charity from our list, so every dollar you spend helps support a cause you care about." The edge for CauseOn is that they give you, as the buyer of the daily deal, the ability to direct your donation to any one of the registered charities. So far, they've signed up over 25 non-profits and are working with a few of the more well known non-profit brands such as Susan G. Komen, Special Olympics, Planed Parenthood and the YWCA. 6. Sharing Spree At first glance, Sharing Spree looks to be exactly like some of the other platforms mentioned in this post, but if you dig a little deeper you'll notice one subtle difference: It's a group buying site offering daily deals for the ladies only (sorry gents). The founders of Sharing Spree created the site based on what they learned about the buying habits of women while running myEZdeal.com, another group buying site. So far they've raised over $35,000 dollars for local charities by giving 10 to 20% of each purchase to local non-profits. Registered users are able to choose from a list of more than fifteen non-profits and schools when they buy a daily deal. Currently it’s just operating in Portland, OR and Nashville, TN, but plans on expanding to other major U.S. cities over the course of 2011. 7. LivingSocial LivingSocial is one of the big players in the group buying business. They're even giving Groupon, the leader in this space, a run for their money , thanks mostly to a $175 Million Investment From Amazon . For the second year in a row, LivingSocial brought us 12 Days Of Giving , a holiday program focused on supporting charitable work around the world. Their latest fundraising efforts raised over $130,000 dollars by giving 1% of every Daily Deal purchased during the 12 days leading up to Chris! tmas to their partners: DonorsChoose and Social Media reviews series maintain by Mayya
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