By Liz Holley

The Give Change Make Change Magento app enables online shoppers to round up their purchase to the nearest pound and donate the extra money to charity. Launched in November last year, the scheme (www.givechangemakechange.com) is being dubbed the ‘virtual collection tin’. The money donated is currently shared equally between the four founding charities, and participating retailers have the option of adding their own charities as well.

The module, which was created by Pod1, Magento’s leading digital partner, has been designed to make it as simple as possible for retailers who want to get on board. It works by automatically rounding up the shopper’s payment to the nearest pound and giving that information to Give Change Make Change, which then invoices the brand/retailer for the amount being donated.

At the checkout the shopper will see a box labelled with the Give Change Make Change logo, some information about the scheme and a question asking if they would like to donate to charity. All the shopper then has to do is to tick the box to automatically round up the cost.

Magento will be making the new module free through its Magento Community, for users to access and download the software.

Tim Johnson, executive director of Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, commented: “In the current climate, the focus has to be on making things as easy as possible for retailers, and working with Pod1 and Magento has allowed us to do that for Give Change Make Change. Thanks to the skills of Pod1 and the nature of the Magento platform itself, this new module means that for those brands and etailers wishing to add this offering to their site, it is now an effortless process.”

This initiative has been a first-time collaboration for the four charities. By bringing their various causes under one roof, the aim is to make it easy for consumers to share their support among the things they care most about.

Johnson added: “We hope that the simplicity of the scheme for both etailers and consumers means it will one day become second nature for people to round up their shopping bills in this way and donate online.”

The module is available now at www.givechangemakechange.com/implementation.

About Give Change Make Change

Give Change Make Change is a new online fundraising venture devised by a consortium of charity partners; British Red Cross, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, WWF and Cancer Research UK. Money is raised as consumers opt to round up their online shopping bills at the electronic check-outs of partner retailers. E.g. a bill of £9.28 could be rounded up to £10 with 72 pence donated to the four charities. Further information and / or retailers interested in becoming a partner in the scheme should contact Denise Bailey on 020 3469 8721or e-mail denise.bailey@cancer.org.uk.

For more information on the scheme go to http://givechangemakechange.com.

British Red Cross

The British Red Cross helps people in crisis, whoever and wherever they are. We are part of a global voluntary network, responding to conflicts, natural disasters and individual emergencies. We enable vulnerable people in the UK and abroad to prepare for and withstand emergencies in their own communities. And when the crisis is over, we help them to recover and move on with their lives.

http://www.redcross.org.uk/  

Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity

Great Ormond Street Hospital is one of the world’s leading children’s hospitals with the broadest range of dedicated, children’s healthcare specialists under one roof in the UK. The hospital’s pioneering research and treatment gives hope to children who are suffering from the rarest, most complex and often life-threatening conditions, from across the country and abroad.

Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity needs to raise £50 million a year to help rebuild and refurbish Great Ormond Street Hospital, provide vital up-to-date equipment and fund research into better treatments for the children. You can help us to provide world class care for our patients and families.

http://www.gosh.org/

WWF

WWF is one of the world’s largest and most respected independent conservation organizations, with over 5 million supporters and a global network active in over 100 countries. WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the earth's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world's biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.

http://www.wwf.org.uk/

Cancer Research UK

Cancer Research UK is the world’s leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research. The charity’s groundbreaking work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has helped save millions of lives. This work is funded entirely by the public. Cancer Research UK has been at the heart of the progress that has already seen survival rates double in the last forty years.

Cancer Research UK supports research into all aspects of cancer through the work of over 4,000 scientists, doctors and nurses. Together with its partners and supporters, Cancer Research UK's vision is to beat cancer.

For further information about Cancer Research UK's work or to find out how to support the charity, please call 020 3469 8300 or visit www.cancerresearchuk.org.