Internet helps provide support for charities
BY AMY ROSEN Staff Writer

With the economy in turmoil, many people are tightening their belts, and that slowdown in spending and giving may be bad news for nonprofit agencies that rely on donations as they strive to help individuals in need.

Two philanthropic families have come up with a solution that can offer a way for people to help nonprofits receive financial donations without costing consumers more money as they shop online.

Alliance Charities is the passionate cause of Freehold resident Thino Cacciolo, founder of the organization. He runs it with his wife, Susan, together with their longtime friends and business associates Keri Ann and Craig Walker, who reside in Texas.

Alliance Charities, a nonprofit organization, provides a way for people who were planning to shop for products online to help contribute to a participating charity. All a consumer has to do is log on to www.alliancecharities.org before shopping and choose the shopping site from which they were planning to purchase items.

Alliance Charities has agreements with a number of participating businesses through which a percentage of each purchase is sent to a designated charity.

By partnering with retailers such as Wal- Mart, Target, Amazon, eBay, Staples, Gap, Disney, Starbucks and many others and by using Google Custom Search, Alliance Charities enables online shoppers to contribute to U.S.-based nonprofits with every purchase they make. Charities may also reap some benefits when people merely search for items online through Alliance Charities.

According to the alliancecharities.org Web site, there is no added expense for shoppers. Funding comes from commissions earned on purchases. Affiliate retailers send Alliance Charities commissions based on shoppers' purchases of items they would normally buy and Alliance Charities distributes funds to supported charities.

There is no cost to the nonprofits to participate in the program. There are currently more than 30 nonprofits receiving donations through Alliance Charities, including the American Cancer Society, Feed the Children, Girl Scouts of the USA, Children's Miracle Network, Catholic Charities USA, American Red Cross, Boy Scouts of America, Make-A-Wish Foundation and Ronald McDonald House, to name a few.

Glenna Smith, a representative in the Special Projects and Events Department at Feed the Children Inc., confirmed that the organization is seeing donations come in from Alliance Charities.

Retailers are willing to give 4 to 50 percent of purchase amounts as a form of advertising. Alliance Charities spokesperson Keri Ann Walker explained that giving a small percentage of sales in exchange for traffic directed to their Web site is a winning proposition for retailers.

The Alliance Charities Web site states that the organization is not alone in the affiliate marketing for charity space, yet it stands apart from its for-profit competitors by ensuring that 100 percent of the revenue collected is consumed by a charitable organization.

More information about how the organization works can be found upon entering the alliancecharities.org Web site and going to the Frequently Asked Questions section.

Walker went on to say, "Thino and Craig have been longtime friends. They came up with this concept in an effort to not only continue supporting charities through donations, but to also help our client organizations raise additional funds. The uniqueness remains that we are nonprofit, we give a substantial amount back to our member organizations, and we provide personalized attention and support."

According to its Web site, Alliance Charities reports that it has donated more than $500,000 to organizations nationwide to date.

Contact Amy Rosen at arosen@gmnews.com