Giving Assistant: It’s Like Coupons On Demand Only Even Better
So who doesn’t like to save money? I’m guessing that about no one answered. In today’s world, you have to be cost conscious or end up wondering where all your money went at the end of the month. Thankfully, the ability to shop online has meant lots of competition for our shopping dollars. But what if there was a way to squeeze even more value out of that hard-earned paycheck?
I was recently introduced to Giving Assistant, an online site that provides rebates on every dollar you spend. I know, you’ve seen it before. Yeah, me too. So what makes them different? How about these great features:
- You get to keep all of the commissions they earn on your purchase. That’s your cash back.
- You can designate all, a portion, or none of your savings to be donated to a charity of your choice.
- They donate meals to the needy when their coupon codes are used.
I was even more impressed by their mission statement:
Our Mission: To increase the positive impact of global online shopping
Giving Assistant is a free, incentivized shopping experience, working with over 1,200 brands and e-retailers, including eBay, Target & Walmart. Brands provide them with semi-exclusive discounts and commissions that they pass on to members as ‘cash back.’
Members can earn $700 or more in cash back annually. On Giving Assistant they are able to automatically donate any percentage of that cash to the charity of their choice. In their first 12 months, members earned over $1 million in cash back and generated over $180k in donations.
Whether you donate or not, every time you earn cash back, Giving Assistant will donate a meal to a needy family on your behalf. So far they’ve provided over 500,000 meals by donating to Feeding America.
But Is It Easy To Use?
All of the great things about them wouldn’t be so great if it was difficult to use or if they wanted a ton of personal information. However, neither of those is the case. It takes just a minute to sign up, and they ask nothing but your email address. You have the option to have an alert installed that lets you know whenever you’re on a site they partner with.
The user interface is super simple. You start by signing up with either your Facebook account or your email.
You can search for stores whether or not you’re signed in. Just enter the name in the search bar and up pops the info on how much the cash back is for that site, as well as available coupon codes. Either way, everyone wins.
- You get a discount and/or cash back
- The store gets a new customer
- Donations are made to those in need
- The website stays in business (be sure to read their interesting story on this!)
At present, that’s about 1,800 sites, including virtually all the popular ones. Here are some examples:
That’s just three out of hundreds, covering just about anything imaginable.
Money Saved is . . . Money Saved!
I’ve always felt like most retailers earn plenty of money on the items they sell. So I’m always on the lookout for ways to keep a little more in my purse. This one really scores by doing that AND having a socially conscious business model. Give them a look!
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