Bringing Back The Power of Charitable Giving
T.A.R.P.
The Altruistic Rebate Program
Are you devoted to supporting charitable good?
Have you or someone you care about received a helping hand of a charitable group?
Were you disappointed by the Amazon Smile program being discontinued?
If you answered YES to any of these questions - The following content is a must read.
The Amazon Smile Story
Amazon Smile was a charitable shopping platform that donated 0.5% of purchases, just five cents per $10 to nonprofit organizations of the shopper’s choice. The Amazon Smile program was offered for ten years during which time the platform distributed more than $446 million in charitable donations. In 2023 the Amazon Smile program was discontinued, Amazon cited the reason as: “donations spread too thin” due to consumers collectively identifying over one-million nonprofits to receive donations which lead to thedistribution of a tremendous number of small donations
Our Story
My wife, Barbara and I were proud users of Amazon Smile. In 2022 our purchases generated just $10 in donations for our selected nonprofit. That small amount seemed to validate Amazon’s reasoning, until, as the late Paul Harvey would say, we got “the rest of the story”
The Rest of the Story
“It’s not about the $10 our purchases produced – it’s about a much bigger picture than that”.
Not all the donations were small – St. Jude’s Hospital received an average of $1.5 million for kids with cancer every year for the ten years Amazon Smile was offered. There are many other charitable organizations that also lost a significant income source when Amazon Smile was discontinued – this initiative represents an opportunity to “right that ship”
“It’s not the amount of rebate that matters”
“It’s more important than that”
“It’s a matter of principle”
The Plan
We’ve conceptualized a new model based on the Amazon Smile framework: T.A.R.P. – The Altruistic Rebate Program “Under the T.A.R.P.” consumers earn a 0.5% rebate for the purchases they make, just five cents per $10. Rebates are commonly used marketing, sales generating tools “outsourcing” the rebate distribution process to a third party (a clearinghouse) is a common practice. In this case the third party is the T.A.R.P. Clearinghouse. Merchant supporting TARP tally the rebates each consumer earns and transfer that data along with the capital to bankroll the rebates to “the T.A.R.P. Clearinghouse” – that is the extent of the responsibilities the program places on merchants
The Clearinghouse Process
The T.A.R.P Clearinghouse will feature the “Donate My Rebate Program. Where consumers designate a specific nonprofit(s) to receive donations funded by the rebates they accumulate.
A Call to Action...
“Its A Matter of Principle”
/Principle/-a kind of rule, belief, or idea that guides us
Why only 0.5%?
The micro-rebate model is based on volume, scalability, sustainability, and ROI
Using a common metric for factoring ROI – a five cent revenue concession investment that attracts a $10 sale represents a 200:1 ROI – a highly desirable marking investment by most standards
The Cumulative Impact Effect
Statistically, over 100 million people spend $50 on something, every day – suppose just (1%) one-million of those consumers make the conscious effort to spend the $50 where the purchases they make produce a 0.5% rebate, twenty-five cents in total rebates – together one-million consumers will earn $250,000 in rebates which when processed through the Donate My Rebate Program becomes $250,000 in charitable donations.
The reality is – this could happen today – tomorrow – the day after that – EVERYDAY – until ultimately – $91.2M is flowing to the charitable community every year. Twenty-five cents in rebates is suddenly part of something remarkable – something much bigger. The $10 donation our Amazon Smile purchases produced in 2022 certainly seemed like no big deal, but as Barbara and I discovered, this is not about the $10 our purchases produced, it’s much more than that, this is a collective movement, a crusade of the masses. When millions of people get involved – small donations add up – in fact – they added up to $1.5 million for kids with cancer every year for ten yearsrunning – now that is most definitely one hell of a big deal!
“It’s not the amount of rebate that matters”
“It’s more important than that”
“It’s a matter of principle”
A Personal Message...
I’ve spent over 40 years as a PGA Golf Professional, not in tech or finance but among people. During that time I have assisted with scores of charitable golf fundraiser events and the thing that stands out the most is the devotion to charitable good everyone involved in those events exemplified. And this experience is not mine alone, there are over 15,000 PGA Golf Professional that assist with over 60,000 events, supported by millions of people, every year, they would all attest to the same experience. Because of the display of devotion I have seen firsthand I am confident there are millions of consumers that will embrace a micro-rebate program that enables them to help the charitable causes they hold dear – Bob Flynt.
Contact T.A.R.P.
Have questions? Want to get involved?
We’d love to hear from you!!
Contact these retailers:
Tell them you support T.A.R.P and would appreciate the opportunity to give back when shopping with them.
Amazon
cs-reply@amazon.com
Live chat on website
(888) 280-4331
Walmart
help@walmart.com
Live chat on website
(888) 925-6278
Target
Live chat on website
(800)440-6888
Costco
P.O Box 34331
Seattle, WA 98124
(800) 774-2678
Home Depot
cs-reply@amazon.com
Text SUPPORT to 38698
(800) 654-0688
Best Buy
(888) 237-8289
CVS
1 CVS Drive
Woonsockt, RI 0285
(800) 746-7287
Lowe’s
customercare@lowes.com
(800) 445-6937
Walgreens
Email form on website
(800) 925-4733
Kroger
Email form on website
Live chat available
(800) 576-4377
Visa
P.O. Box 8999
San Francisco, CA 94128
(650) 432-3200
American Express
P.O. Box 981535
El Paso, Tx 79998
(800) 528-4800
Don't Forget Local Businesses!
Mention this opportunity to all the community businesses you patronize – they are the foundation the T.A.R.P. concept is built upon. Encourage them to reach out to us. This is a mutually beneficial opportunity – statistical fact: businesses that support charitable initiatives do better than those that don’t.