Tis’ the season of giving and you can do it in a double dose over the holidays. Everyone knows that the economy is bad and donations to non-profits/charities are way down.  The good news is, the next time you’re shopping online for that special someone, you can get a great deal for you, a great gift for them and simultaneously have a percentage of your purchase donated to your favorite charity. Sound like a lot of work…well, www.goodshop.com makes it very easy.

There is a growing and innovative trend where online shoppers are receiving discounts at their favorite stores and simultaneously helping their favorite charities…and what makes this concept so compelling is that it doesn’t cost you anything. It’s a form of philanthropy that works for everyone during difficult times where giving is harder than it was before.

GoodShop.com is an online shopping mall that donates a percentage of each purchase from more than 1,400 stores (such as Target, Apple, Best Buy, Macy’s, Gap, Petco and Amazon) to the charity of your choice. It also provides hundreds of coupons and deals so you can even save money!

Gee Larry…is it hard to use? Heck no!  Just go to www.goodshop.com and start searching and buying. Multiple search strategies are available. You can search by store (e.g., just type in Nordstrom or Target or your favorite store name)…once you type in your search criteria, you will see the store name and the amount they will contribute from the purchase…you can even search by nonprofit to make sure that you can designate them on your favorite store or favorite charity.

In addition, the site provides categories of merchandise (e.g., shoes, clothing, cars) and listings of the most popular stores and the amount they will contribute.

The best part of the site may be the list of coupons that are being offered by the store you are searching…so if Target is your favorite store, you will be presented with a list of Target coupons/deals…so you get everything in one place…a good deal…online…with a contribution to your favorite charity…very cool!

How many nonprofits have benefited? More than 85,000 nonprofits have partnered with www.goodshop.com to enable their supporters to generate funds simply by shopping online and searching the Internet.

I love this idea/concept. Try it out and you will too. Happy holidays and happy shopping!

Want to take advantage of online shopping, but don’t have the time to hunt for bargains? Or, do you shop online, but find out that your size isn’t offered any longer at the sale price? Now there is a fun, free www site that does all the work for you. Consumer spending has come to a halt and is critical to getting the economy going again……so it is your civic duty to go buy something….ok, ok…maybe not, but www.shopittome.com is a cool little site that will help you find a few bargains.

Here is how it works. You start by creating a profile. This will take about 5 minutes. First you tell www.shopittome.com what you are interested in (e.g., men’s clothing, women’s clothing) and your sizes. Next, you select brands that interest you. There are approximately 600 women’s brands and 300 men’s brands on the site and you can pick as many as you would like. Everything from Armani to Adidas and beyond. Shopittome has a pretty good selection. Last but not least, you provide an email address, your first name and how often you would like to hear from www.shopittome.com.

On the frequency that you specify, you will receive a personalized “Salemail” that lists sales on items that want and in the brands and sizes that fit you. If you see something you like, simply click on the link that takes you to the retailers www site to complete the purchase. All purchasing and returning is done via the retailer and not www.shopittome.com.

Pretty simple. I am a big fan of simple. In today’s busy world, www.shopittome.com provides a nice free service that can help anyone take advantage of the convenience of online shopping.