Good360 – Helping NFPs #DoGoodBetter

Good360 connects businesses with excess goods to charities that need them and their online GivingPlace platform is about to launch across Australia in time for Christmas 2014.

Good360 Australia was established in 2012 when Managing Director, Alison Covington, brought the concept to Australia. They have operated successfully in the US for over 30 years, delivering over US$8billion worth of goods to 40,000 Not for Profits, with operating costs of less than 2 per cent of donations and feature on Forbes’ Top 10 Best-Managed Charities list.

“Our GivingPlace eCommerce platform is the technology that makes our vision a reality – the first of its kind in Australia,” Covington said. “It’s a central online marketplace for companies to provide excess product and charities to request those products to fulfil their mission,”Covington.

Good360 is based on a simple concept – connecting excess product to people in need.

“It’s more than a shopping cart. It also offers a great communication tool for Not for Profits to connect with their local communities,” Covington said.

Good360’s GivingPlace is the social platform to do good. The powerful new website brings together Not for Profits, businesses and individuals to meet community need and maximise social impact, at the same time as diverting thousands of tonnes of potential waste from landfill.

Good360 creates a win-win-win situation for charities (and their clients), businesses and the environment. It matches businesses and individual donors to charities and redistributes excess non-perishable goods like toys, clothes, shoes, household goods and office furniture to charities that, in turn, pass them on to people who most need them.

Good360 provides an innovative and unique service that does not currently exist in Australia and it will make it easier for Australian NFPs to help our most vulnerable fellow citizens.

Companies that have partnered with Good360 Australia include 3M, Linen House, Shoes of Prey, Deals Direct, Booktopia and Lush.

Good360 takes care of all the logistics to ensure products go to charities around Australia.

“By combining world class technology and shipping solutions to the charitable sector, Good360 provides the piece of the puzzle that has frustrated businesses and charities from easily making the donation connection,” Covington said. “Our website enables connections between businesses and charities on a scale that has never been achievable before.”

Junghan (JH) Lee, 3M Australia’s Managing Director, said “I know of countless companies that struggle to give away excess product and Good360’s GivingPlace online platform will provide a one-stop solution to donors and charities that need that product. I would encourage the CEOs of other companies across Australia to support Good360’s efforts to help Australia’s charities, reduce waste, save money, and at the same time give employees an opportunity to be more engaged and proud of the companies they work for.”

Registrations are Now Open to Not for Profits.

Charities that have pre-registered will be eligible for product donations when Good360’s GivingPlace goes live in December.

Benefits of registering

·         Cost of shipping can be a barrier for some charities to access donated product. In partnership with Temando, Good360 assists charities by providing them with access to the best shipping rates across Australia.

·         Crowd-funding fundraising feature – charities will be able to rally their supporters to help fund the shipping and processing fees. Charities add all the FREE product to their shopping cart, create a compelling story about impact the product will have on the lives of the people they assist, and then Good360 will help push these stories out to their supporters via social media/newsletters.

Supporters can ‘chip-in’ to fund the cost of shipping. This provides a leveraged effect of their donation and donors can directly see where their donation is going, e.g. how $20 will help a children’s charity give $10,000 worth of toys to their community.

·         Charity feedback reporting feature – charities can upload their “Impact Stories”, with images and video, once they receive and distribute the donation. Impact stories are linked to the dashboard of product donors and individual cash donors, providing tangible stories of the good the donors’ contributions have made, hopefully encouraging them to make further donations. These stories are also shareable via social media widgets.

·         Charity “Needs List” feature – tools for charities to provide compelling stories to request specific product via wish lists and share the impact these products would have on their community. Good360 has had a lot of positive feedback about this feature because charities find it hard to communicate their needs and reach potential donors who would happily give if they knew what was needed and the impact their donations would make.

With $250 + gst the registration creates a profile on the Good360 GivingPlace.

The suite of benefits includes:

1. Access to FREE product

2. Crowdfund to receive donations from supporters

3. Create Impact Stories

4. Create Needs List.

For more on Early Bird registration, visit www.good360.org.au