Tracey Cooley

Cleveland Hts, OH (USA)
Role(s):
Founder/Owner/Principal

Reward City

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Location: South Euclid
Industry: Marketing/PR
Year Founded: 2008
Number Employees: 1-10 people
Description: Civic Champions turns every day shopping into charitable acts, providing schools and nonprofits with an innovative way to raise funds, empowering customers to support causes dear to their hearts and helping support local independently owned businesses. Supporting organization: Nonprofit organizations, Schools and Small Business Associations ElevatorPitch: Civic Champions will take a two-way approach in strenghtening local communities by empowering the nonprofit sector and creating loyalty to local independent businesses using a community card that builds a new platform for socially minded shopping. Project Vision Statement & Potential Social Impact: America's nonprofit sector continues to grow faster than its business sector or its government. According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS), there are currently over 1.5 million nonprofit organizations in the United States with $1.4 billion in revenue, makes up 10.5% of the U.S. national workforce and employs 9.4 million people. Fundraising is the biggest challenge: an average direct expense of $0.24 per dollar raised. Likewise, the number of small businesses in America in 2006 reached a new high of 26.8 million, according to the SBA Office of Advocacy's annual report to the president on the small-business economy. Small businesses are an integral part of the country’s social and economic fabric. Research shows that small firms play a vital role in innovation, regional economic development, and the pursuit of new markets. These firms are responsible for half of our gross domestic product, employ half of the private workforce, and generate a majority of our new jobs. A study conducted by the Institute of Self Reliance shows that for every $100 spent with a big-box retailer generates $14 in local spending by the retailer. That same $100 spent at a locally owned business generates $45 in local spending, or three times as much. In addition, 84% of Americans said they were likely to switch brands to support a worthy cause. Civic Champions see an opportunity to help nonprofits with fundraising and retailers with cause-related marketing by tapping into socially aware consumers. Civic Champions aims to become the go-to-leader for socially minded consumerism. Sustainability (financial) model: Consumers shop with local independently owned businesses and present their program card when making purchases. The card delivers cash rebates to the cardholder and makes a charitable donation to a school or charity of the cardholder’s choice automatically by swiping the card in the businesses’ normal swipe facility. This innovative and ethical concept will deliver real and proven results to the cardholder, local business, local charities and to the wider community. Retailers agree to pay a community rebate in exchange for business we’re able to send their way. The majority of this rebate will pass through to cardholders as a rebate and to schools and nonprofit organizations as a donation. A smaller portion is retained to fund the development, operation, and growth of the program. Civic Champions will create a winning situation for all parties: it is free for businesses, nonprofit organizations and consumers; it helps retailers gain support and gain a larger loyal customer base while paying only for results; it also helps in the development of social synergy within local communities. Resource Needs: · Financial resources to obtain the technologic infrastructure and support · Staff and financial resources to develop partnerships with nonprofit organizations · Staff and financial resources to market to socially minded consumers · Staff and financial resources to market program to locally owned businesses Key Milestones: 90-day project plan: · Seek initial funding · Develop core team · Develop partnerships with local businesses, nonprofits · Launch website · Develop marketing collateral Project Summary: Merchants continually seek new ways to increase sales, encourage loyalty and attract new customers. Competition is fierce and merchants are more open than ever to alternative methods that can help them grow their business. Also, as a parent or community member, you realize that many local schools and non-profit organizations are in financial crisis. With the bursting of the tech bubble and the recent downturn of the economy, budgets for these groups have become even leaner. As businesses and individuals have less discretionary income to contribute, multiple organizations are scrambling for the same dollars. Civic Champions is a program that thinks outside the box to help bring revenue to both of these groups, and without changing the either of these entities normally function. Civic Champions builds on the trends of social entreprenuerism and the increased social minded consumerism. Civic Champions starts with an innovative way of fundraising through a proprietary loyalty program that turns consumer shopping into cash rebates and donations. We will enable socially minded consumers to shop with local retailers, pay the normal prices, and have a percentage of their purchases donated to nonprofits of their choice. Through Civic Champions, consumers and partnered nonprofits will get the largest portion of the merchant rebates. We create value for all stakeholders. First, it offers consumers the convenience of neighborhood shopping and enables them to turn shopping into guilt-free and charitable giving. It also provides a channel for companies to support nonprofits through business spending on such items as office supplies. Second, Civic Champions helps nonprofits tap into the exploding market of cause related spending. Finally, Civic Champions offers local merchants an opportunity to increase customer loyalty and build a socially responsible brand. The platform that will be used requires no special hardware or software and is compatible with all existing merchant POS systems. Civic Champions aims to become the go-to-leader for socially minded consumerism.