Introducing Elephant Library: New Site is “One Small Click for Man, One Giant Leap for Philanthropy”
Source: Elephant Library
With Americans forecast to spend about 50% more shopping online this year than just three years ago, and donations to charities topping $295 billion last year, the time is right for a PhilanProfit(SM) web site. ElephantLibrary.org is a new, user-driven community that features The Elephant Store, an e-commerce portal that allows users to buy from popular online retailers. It then pays 100% of the net profits from its Elephant Store to charity. Under the direction of 19 year-old CEO Meade Carey, the company expects to raise and donate millions of dollars to a variety of charitable causes worldwide.
In 2006, nearly 30% of college students contributed volunteer hours, and that percentage has been steadily on the rise. “Many young people like me want to make an impact but, with often limited means, we don’t always know how,” says Meade, an incoming freshman at Boston University. She is urging students nationwide to use The Elephant Store as they buy their books and other school supplies online. “If we can inspire thousands of students to buy their books through our site right now as the fall term starts, the impact will be incredible … and they will have done something meaningful for charity without spending anything extra.”
The Elephant Store connects buyers to popular and reputable retailers including Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Apple Computers, Staples and iTunes. It costs nothing extra to shop in this way, but these retailers pay anywhere from 4% to 17% of the amount of purchases back to Elephant Library, and all of the net profits will be donated to charitable causes. Meade isn’t crazy – she is just a cause-minded student employing the ultimate example of what her father’s company, A. Carey Co. LLC, calls a PhilanProfit(SM) business model. That is, companies that use philanthropy as a key part of their business strategy to benefit the world community and strengthen the company business.
Meade is harnessing the trends in online shopping and in charitable giving. She understands that if people simply visit her site first, and use it to jump to their usual online shopping activities, they could generate millions for charity without reaching further into their own pockets.
Several charities will benefit, as people who register and shop at the site will be able to nominate and select organizations to receive a portion of the proceeds. Meade Carey and her board of directors will also select recipients, and initial emphasis will be placed on promoting literacy. There are plans to develop the site into the premier resource for philanthropy for Generation Y in coming months.
As Meade says, this is, “One small click for man, one giant leap for philanthropy.”
About Elephant Library
Elephant Library is an online home for your book or multimedia collection, and a user-driven community that enables users to support a range of causes at no additional cost. The site provides access to Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Apple Computers and Staples, among other popular online retailers. By starting at http://www.elephantlibrary.org and clicking through to the retailer’s site, Elephant Library receives a percentage of the purchase, which it will direct to charity. The site was founded by Meade Carey. Meade, a 19 year-old Boston University student, also serves as CEO.
For more information, please visit http://www.elephantlibrary.org.
(C) Copyright 2007 Elephant Library & Collegiate Presswire. All Rights Reserved.
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