The F.E.L.T Marketplace was conceived to empower merchants, shops and service providers to help end child hunger for Manatee County’s homeless children by donating in-kind products and services.
All businesses and service providers have excess capacity, unsold inventory or merchandise that they can donate.
Unlike in-kind donations to other charities that are typically sold for pennies on the dollar to generate needed cash, items and services donated on the F.E.L.T marketplace are sold for full value to generate the funds needed to service our homeless children.
There are many good reasons why more and more businesses are offering their excess products, capacity and services as in-kind donations to support charities, but underlying them all is a fundamental motivation: businesses profit while doing good.
Airlines and restaurants can donate empty seats, hotels and resorts can donate empty rooms, printers can donate unsold press downtime, business professionals, service providers and care givers can donate empty time slots, health care professionals can treat new patients, and so on.
Business owners, professionals, service providers and entrepreneurs can receive a donation certificate for donations, which may offset profits and capital gains to reduce taxes.
Businesses are taking a serious look at in-kind donation as a potential way to reduce tax liabilities, and the rapid growth of in-kind donations can only mean that local businesses likes what today’s donation commerce marketplace has to offer.
When people purchase donated products and services, 100% of the net proceeds from sales is used to help feed homeless children.
Do good. Feel good. SignUp and add your in-kind donations to the marketplace today!
When you list offers on FELTDonations.com:
- You get free advertising for your business.
- You show the local community that you care about children and are committed to help end child hunger.
- The tax deductible donation certificate you receive could often save you more on taxes than your actual cost of your product, service or excess unsold capacity.
The marketplace is the premier commerce platform for social good where social enterprise provides food for homeless and underprivileged school children.
The numerous business benefits of in-kind donations:
INCREASE SALES: When you make in-kind donations your business is promoted to the community. We also promote your business on our website, in our newsletter, and on our digital signs viewed by thousands of people each day.
NEW CASH SALES: The number one source of advertising for small businesses is “word of mouth.” If a community member purchases your marketplace offer and is happy with their experience, odds are they will remain a cash paying customer, and also refer their cash-paying friends, family and other businesses to you.
WHOLESALE REWARDS: With in-kind donations, the actual cost of the products or services you donate is at your wholesale cost. Making in-kind donations with built-in retail value makes the valuation of your donation even more rewarding.
MOVE EXCESS INVENTORY AND FILL IDLE TIME: Every business owner has excess inventory, production, capacity or appointment time. That unscheduled appointment today has zero value tomorrow. When you offer in-kind donations on the FELT Marketplace, the full value of your donation goes to buy food for homeless school children. We accomplish this by promoting your products or services to the community, which provides funding to F.E.L.T.
IMPROVE CASH FLOW: You can improve cash flow by increasing sales and getting new customers. Participating in a donation marketplace does both! In-kind donations enables you gain new customers that you probably would never have had, any other way. And new customers will refer your business to friends, family and colleagues. When for example, you provide gift certificates for services, the services provided may be more than the value of the gift certificate, so the amount above the certificate value would be paid directly to you.
PROVIDES A COMPETITIVE EDGE: Community members will patronize your business over the competition, because your participation fosters an incentive to do business with you. In-kind donations attracts new customers to your business, without affecting the existing cash sales already being generated by your company.
COLLECT RECEIVABLES: A small business might find it difficult to pay you the cash they owe, but would welcome the opportunity to fulfill their obligation with payment in their products or services. Businesses can then offer acquired products and services as in-kind donations. Your non-collectable receivable just became revenue that can be used by F.E.L.T to feed homeless children, and might even provide a tax deduction.