How it works

Watch the walk-through video of how ShopDonation works here.

Through ShopDonation you can donate for free by shopping at any affiliated online stores. You only need to click on the shop icon (such as CottonOn, Travelstart, NetFlorist etc.) and make a purchase as per normal once redirected to that online store. This does not cost you anything extra, since the donation cost is covered by the brand, and you can choose which cause you want to support for each purchase. In this way, together (with your help!) we redistribute commercial profits to social projects.

Where does this donation come from?

When ShopDonation delivers a customer to a webshop, we receive a commission as a reward. This commission is often a percentage of the purchase price, or sometimes a fixed amount (decided on by the retailer). ShopDonation converts the majority of this commission into a donation and passes it forward to the cause of your choice! 

Example:

You see a T-shirt you like for R300. You click to the brand through ShopDonation and buy that T-shirt for R300. On ShopDonation it shows that the store donates 4%. So, because you made the purchase through ShopDonation, you have made a donation of R12 to the cause that you selected to support on ShopDonation. 

Sound too good to be true? We invite everyone to test it out for themselves; don't just take our word for it. All it takes is two extra clicks, which makes a real difference for the initiatives that are doing great work to positively impact the country. These range from renowed organisations to small-scale projects.

Confirmation of your donation

ShopDonation is the only platform where you can get a confirmation of your donation by email, as well as in your ShopDonation-account. When creating a user account, your email address will never be shared with other parties, not even the cause you have supported. Read more on how we fully protect your privacy.

Stay anonymous

If you don't wish to create a user account, that's fine too. You can still support your cause by shopping anonymously, without logging in. In this case, we can't send you an (email) confirmation though. You can verify your donation by checking the 'recent donations' at the bottom of the homepage, or contacting the project you have chosen to support.

Always know which cause you're supporting

At the top of the stores page, you'll always see which cause is supported as soon as you go shopping. You can change this yourself at any time and when you're logged in, your chosen cause will be saved.

You're making a unique difference

Since most people shop on a recurring basis, this means the social projects registered on ShopDonation can receive a much-needed ongoing source of income, which is very difficult to generate for nonprofits. So even your smallest, recurring online purchases do make a difference.

If you're part of a cause, read how much you can expect to raise using ShopDonation here.

Multiple users and causes verify ShopDonation daily

All projects can see live how much has been raised via their account. For each donation, both users and causes can see if the amount has been paid out or when it will be paid out. Any possible discrepancy can be checked by both parties, back to the first purchase since the beginning of ShopDonation. Read more about how ShopDonation is verified daily by users and causes here.

Help spread the word

ShopDonation is growing bigger and bigger, but not everyone knows about ShopDonation yet. Your help by telling others can help us redefine success in the e-commerce ecosystem by redistributing more profits to social causes.

Because we give the majority of our income away as donations, ShopDonation does not have a big corporate pool with funds to set up large ads or make commercials on TV. It is because common people decided to spread the word, that our concept has been making a bigger and bigger impact on the world. Thus, we thank you if you share this concept with others too!

We're always open to possible collaborations with like-minded brands, sponsorships or answering questions for media interviews.

Let's make a shift in the right direction together!

Ready to test the system out for yourself?

Start donating for free

Kirstyn Liang

Franchise owner at ShopDonation ZA

kirstyn@shopdonation.co.za