We all love shopping, especially at Christmas time for your nearest and dearest. But what if you could raise money for charity whilst you shopped, all for free…?
This is the essence of Give as you Live, which works with more than 4,000 of the world’s biggest retailers to redirect a percentage of each purchase to a charity of the shopper’s choice.
If it’s free money for charity, there must be a catch – right? For once, no, it’s all above board and bona fide. So far, Give as you Live has helped raised more than £6.5m for good causes across the UK.
This year, Firefly worked with Tots100, a community of active parenting bloggers, to raise awareness of the free charity donations that Give as you Live generates at Christmas.
Experian and trade group IMRG estimate that £1.1bn was spent online on Black Friday purchases this year – a whopping 36% increase on last year. If everybody used Give as you Live to do their online shopping, it could have generated £27.5m for good causes* without it costing shoppers a penny.
In order to make Give as you Live THE destination for smart and socially responsible Christmas shopping, Tots100 helped us recruit 20 prominent bloggers to write a festive gift guide for their readers.
Whether it’s food, furniture or family games and kids’ toys, we left it up to the bloggers to feature products that were right for them.
Each blog (see full list below) went live in November in order to coincide with Give as you Live’s Christmas campaign, #MerryGivemas. We saw some amazing creativity; one blogger – RocknRollMum – selected an array of beautiful vintage-style gifts, and another – Notanothermummyblog – chose lots of pretty and sparkly items.
We made sure all of the featured products had their own web links, including a tracking code, so we could monitor the number of clicks and sales through the blogs. Thousands of clicks were registered in the first few weeks, with new sign-ups and hundreds of pounds being spent as a result of the guides.
The numbers are still rolling in and the final count will be made after the last-minute Christmas sales rush is finally over.
In true Christmas spirit, Give as you Live will reward the most successful and creative blogger with a £250 high street voucher, there will also be five £50 vouchers for runners up.
To do your online Christmas shopping (or any online shopping for that matter), sign-up to Give as you Live today.
Full list of #MerryGivemas bloggers:
- Squidgyboo - GIVE AS YOU LIVE GIFT GUIDE
- Motherhood diaries - The Ultimate Parenting Gift Guide – Give as you Live #MerryGivemas
- Me and my shadow - Give as you live: Christmas Wish List for Foodies
- Baby Buddeting - My Give As You Live Gift Guide
- You Baby Me Mummy - Christmas Corkers for under £20 from Give as you Live
- The ramblings of a formerly rock N roll mum - Quirky and Pretty Gift Guide #MerryGivemas
- Zena’s Suitcase - Baby & toddler charity gift ideas
- Emma & Three - Christmas shopping for active fun teenagers
- Amuse your bouche - 11 brilliant Christmas gifts for bloggers
- Notanothermummyblog - My ultimate Christmas gift guide… with extra feelgood factor
- Hollybobbs - Top Toys For Christmas With Give As You Live
- Little Stuff - The Best Mug Gift Guide | #MerryGivemas
- Le Coin de Mel - 20 Christmas gifts £20 & under
- We’re going on an adventure - Christmas Gift List #MerryGivemas
- Cherished by Me - Give As You Live Gift Guide for Foodies
- OHSOAMELIA - 10 Great Gifts For Bloggers | The Bloggers Gift Guide
- Bark Time - Pimp Your Kitchen Gift Guide – The Power of Red
- Mum Mummy MUM! - Great Christmas Gifts from Give As You Live
- Jacintaz Three - Make Christmas Merry with Give as you Live
- Kiddy Charts - 8 great gifts to help your kids to love their food
*Based on 2.5% commission