FAQ - Frequently asked questions
Causes/projects
Any initiative with a social aim in the broadest sense of the word can register at ShopDonation, such as: a charity, citizens' initiative, school, association, sports club, hospital, sponsor challenge, social enterprise, music group, art project or a personal initiative. In principle, it works the same as crowdfunding, so a cause does not have to be registered as a foundation or charity. You just need permission from the founder if you are not the founder yourself.
With a small group of engaged shoppers you can already raise decent amounts, the more people are involved with your initiative, the more donations you can generate through ShopDonation. Read here how much you can expect to raise via ShopDonation.
Financial / accounting
If you personally start a project and receive the donations on your personal bank account, please note that tax may have to be paid on this income. Consult the tax rules in combination with your personal situation or that of the foundation, and if necessary check with a tax advisor.
Inspection
Of course, ShopDonation checks all projects for the correctness of information as far as possible. Should we find out later that a cause is displaying significant fraudulent/incorrect information, ShopDonation reserves the right to reclaim all collected and paid donations.
If there is a desire to collect personal money from online purchases, we would rather like to refer you to "cash back websites", which are completely legal.
In practice, shoppers choose a cause to support based on personal contact, trust and transparency. 90% of our shoppers know the cause, or the person behind it, before they go to ShopDonation to support them. If someone tries to create a project for "personal gain", this wouldn't yield much anyway.
ShopDonation can generate a much-needed ongoing source of income for causes; something that is hard to generate for nonprofits and that not many concepts offer. Please check out our introduction page about what you can expect.
There are 4 payout dates per year, wherein the payment is made after a minimum of R300 has been raised. There is always a minimum period of 3 months between the moment of donation and the paying out of this.
On 01-01 the amount paid out is collected from donations during 01-07 to 30-09*
On 01-04, the amount paid out will be collected from donations during 01-10 to 31-12*
On 01-07 the amount is paid from donations during 01-01 to 31-03*
On 01-10 the amount paid out will be collected from donations during 01-04 to 30-06*
*If in a quarter the minimum of R300, is not achieved, then the amount shifts to the next period, until this minimum of R300, is achieved.
You can see which status a transaction has in My account > My project. This way you can always keep an eye on how much has been collected and how much will be paid out.
If a cause deregisters from ShopDonation, the amount raised under R300 will, of course, be paid out.
If the cause no longer exists or stops their activity, and there is no longer any desire to receive this money, they can also choose to donate this amount to another cause. The receiving cause will then confirm that they have received the money.
Every month we select the Cause of the month based on: inspiration, transparency (what happens with the raised money?) and commitment in terms of promotion (is ShopDonation promoted on the website and social media, for example?).
Any initiative that's aiming to do something good in the world, can get extra funding and exposure through our exclusive collaboration with WorldFair, along with a great deal to create a new promotion video. Read about it here.
Purchases
It can take up to 48 hours before you can see a confirmation of the donation in your account and for you to receive a confirmation email. If you still have not received confirmation after 48 hours, please fill out the contact form. We will contact the webshop and can often still retrieve the donation for you.
When can something go wrong?
- If you have previously clicked to the webshop via another affiliate website, such as a discount code website or comparison website. In this case, the commission will go to this affiliate website instead of ShopDonation and the donation will not come through.
- If you use a browser or software that blocks cookies. When cookies are blocked the tracking process does not work. Switch any Adblocking software* off while using ShopDonation and enable cookies in your browsers, click here to read how. * Firewall software like ZoneAlarm or Norton internet security, has adblocking option switched on by default.
- The cookies at the webshop were not accepted. Always click ''yes'' or ''ok'' when asked for cookie consent at the webshop.
- When a VPN, or a proxy server is used on ShopDonation.
- Browser extensions linking to shopping rewards or coupon sites are enabled while using ShopDonation.
- If the cookie settings on a device are set to 'very strict', the tracking process will not work. Computers that are used in a business environment / the office are often set to this mode.
Tips to make your purchases successfully result in donations:
- Delete your cookies before making a purchase through ShopDonation. This will prevent earlier clicks, saved by cookies, from attributing the commission to other websites. Together with allowing (third-party) cookies, this is the most successful solution to prevent missed purchases.
- Do not interrupt the ordering process or do any other browsing after you've clicked the webshop-link.
- Do not make a purchase through multiple tabs or devices.
- Wait until you reach the "thank-you page".
- Do not use the mobile app of the webshop, only use the mobile browser of the webshop if purchasing on mobile.
- Do not visit the webshop itself before clicking from ShopDonation.
- At the webshop make sure your shopping basket is empty when you arrive. Otherwise some webshops may not attribute the sales to ShopDonation.
- Only use discount/voucher codes from ShopDonation, otherwise the commission might not be given.
- Don't make a purchase through a phonecall or livechat, the commission will not be attributed to ShopDonation.
- Only use supported webbrowsers, which are Google Chrome versions 21+, Firefox versions 15+, Microsoft Edge all, Internet Explorer versions 11+ and Safari versions 6+.
Read more detailed information on how the tracking system works and how to prevent missed purchases here.
Do not approach the webshop yourself
- The cooperation between the webshop and ShopDonation is only known to the marketing department of the webshop (as the cooperation is based on the ''affiliate marketing'' principle, we are technically part of their advertising).
When you approach the customer service of a webshop, they will most probably not know anything about the cooperation with ShopDonation, unless you speak to someone from their marketing department.
Rather send the missed purchase to ShopDonation, then we will approach our contact person from the webshop.
ShopDonation makes use of an international tracking system that is owned by the webshops, not by ourselves. Together we are double-checking if all the transactions communicated to us by the webshops are correct. We appreciate if you let us know when a donation didn't arrive after a purchase, so we can contact the relevant webshop. 80-90% of the time we can still retrieve the donation in that case.
When the system doesn't automatically track the purchase
There are some cases when a purchase isn't automatically tracked by the system. This causes the webshop not to receive any information, ShopDonation not to receive any commission, and consequently the donation not to be given to your chosen cause.
That's why we ask to be mindful that the tracking process can be disturbed if:
- A previous click is made to the webshop via another affiliate website, such as a discount code website or comparison website. In this case, the commission will go to this affiliate website instead of ShopDonation and we can't pay the donation to your cause.
- A browser or software is used that blocks cookies. When cookies are blocked the tracking process does not work. Switch any Adblocking software* off while using ShopDonation and enable cookies in your browsers, click here to read how. *Firewall software like ZoneAlarm or Norton internet security, has adblocking option switched on by default.
- The cookies at the webshop are not accepted. Always click ''yes'' or ''ok'' when asked for cookie consent at the webshop.
- When a VPN, or a proxy server is used on ShopDonation.
- Browser extensions linking to shopping rewards or coupon sites are enabled while using ShopDonation.
- The cookie settings on a device are set to 'very strict'. Computers that are used in a business environment / the office are often set to this mode.
Tips to make your purchases successfully result in donations:
- Delete your cookies before making a purchase through ShopDonation. This will prevent earlier clicks, saved by cookies, from attributing the commission to other websites. Together with allowing (third-party) cookies, this is the most successful solution to prevent missed purchases.
- Do not interrupt the ordering process or do any other browsing after you've clicked the webshop-link.
- Do not make a purchase through multiple tabs or devices.
- Wait until you reach the "thank-you page".
- Do not use the mobile app of the webshop (except Bol.com and Aliexpress), only use the mobile browser of the webshop.
- Do not visit the webshop itself before clicking from ShopDonation.
- At the webshop make sure your shopping basket is empty when you arrive. Otherwise some webshops may not attribute the sales to ShopDonation.
- Only use discount/voucher codes from ShopDonation, otherwise the commission might not be given.
- Don't make a purchase through a phonecall or livechat, the commission will not be attributed to ShopDonation.
- Only use supported webbrowsers, which are Google Chrome versions 21+, Firefox versions 15+, Microsoft Edge all, Internet Explorer versions 11+ and Safari versions 6+.
Read more detailed information on how the tracking system works and how to prevent missed purchases here.
Do you have a missed transaction?
Send the missed purchase to ShopDonation via the contact form, then we will approach our contact person from the webshop. Unless the commission is contributed to another party, we can usually retrieve the donation.
Yes, on our overview of stores you'll find the shop category business where you can see all providers of business products and services.
Business purchases can mean a lot for a social project, especially when these are recurring purchases, as this will bring in ongoing financial support through ShopDonation. Read more about business purchases here.
If you know a company that might be interested in doing this, whether it's the company where you work or through your business network, do let them know about this simple opportunity to make a positive social impact.
Most organisations that are currently using ShopDonation were quite surprised to hear about what value they could offer without any extra costs, and were very willing to explore with which purchases they could support a cause of their choosing. Feel free to contact us for more information or specific inquiries at kirstyn@shopdonation.co.za.
General
Brands pay us a commission because when you start shopping from ShopDonation, they see that we sent you to them. When you make a purchase, we get a commission as a reward. If you shop through ShopDonation, we pass on the majority of this commission to the cause of your choice.
You shop at the same stores for the same prices, but now part of your purchases will go to social projects. Through this, together we redistribute profits to the good in society!
Yes, all amounts that are earned and paid out at ShopDonation are verifiable by all parties involved. Read more about this below:
Transparency
- Everyone can see how many donations have been generated on ShopDonation's platform. The website also shows how much each cause has raised thanks to shoppers using ShopDonation.
- Cause owners can see live how much has been raised via their account, as well as the details of which purchases have generated which amount of donations, and see the current status of each donation.
*Cause owners cannot see any private user information, such as the email address of users who have shopped for the cause. They can only see a username, which can be made completely anonymous according to the user’s wishes. If users shop without logging in, no username will appear either. In both cases, privacy is protected.
- Individual users can check the status of each purchase and they can notify ShopDonation if they suspect that something is wrong.
Together with the shoppers, we check whether all purchases arrive correctly in our system with the webshops. ShopDonation is the only platform where users can receive an email confirmation of a donation after purchasing, in addition to the live overview in their account. As a result, missed purchases do not go unnoticed and the highest possible percentage still gets converted into donations by ShopDonation.
Payouts
- All payouts are systematically transferred to the causes quarterly and can be verified through our system, by both the shoppers and the cause itself. For each accepted purchase through ShopDonation, you can see when it will be paid out, or when it was paid out.
Any possible discrepancy can be checked by both parties, back to the first purchase since the beginning of ShopDonation. Through this method, we are verified by causes and users on a daily basis.
Automatically and decentralized
Besides that, the ShopDonation team only has a facilitating role, so the system functions without our intervention (decentrally) and generates free donations. For example, we do not have the power to adjust or manipulate the incoming commission amounts - these are entered into our system by the webshops and automatically converted into donations. Because of this structure no one has to rely solely on our words; the system works on its own and everyone can check if it really works.
We are very proud to have made this system as transparent as possible. We are very aware that any kind of ambiguity can create the wrong impression, and that any wrong impression can be disastrous for our beloved concept.
That is why we have arranged the system how we would like to see it ourselves, were we in the cause or shopper’s shoes. If you still have questions or feedback, please don’t hesitate to let us know.
- ShopDonation doesn’t receive or collect any user´s personal information. Purchases are done at the webshop itself, we don’t receive any personal information from the webshops.
- If you create a user account on ShopDonation, we will receive your email address upon your registration. You don't have to create a user account on ShopDonation to shop and donate for free though, you can do this anonymously without having to sign up. The benefits of signing up though are that you get an email confirmation after making a purchase and that you can see an overview of your free donations made in your account. We will never send your email address through to any other parties.
- When you create a user account, you can choose an anonymous username, nobody else will see your email address.
- If you wish to delete your user account we will delete your email address forever.
- ShopDonation only uses programs like Google Analytics to see how visitors use the website so that we can improve it.
Yes, you can. Just send us an email from the email address that is connected with your user account. If you’ve made the purchase anonymously (without logging in), please attach your purchase confirmation with it.
* Seeing a different cause than what you’ve selected when making the purchase can also happen when a first click was made to a webshop (maybe just to test out the platform, with the correct cause not yet selected). The system registered this cookie/click with a different cause, and when you later made the purchase with your chosen cause, the system still remembered your first click.
The webshop decides which click will be used, read more about this in our detailed information page about the tracking system.
- If you log in, you can see your donation in your ShopDonation account within 24 hours.
- You will receive a confirmation email with the amount of your donation after you make a purchase.
- The cause/project that you choose to donate to is always saved.
- You can create a profile photo so that acquaintances / friends can see that you support a certain cause.
Webshops
Before a webshop can be added to the collection of online stores on ShopDonation, a shop/company first has to make the choice to take part in affiliate marketing.
You have to register as a webshop at a site like Affiliate.co.za, OfferForge or AdMarula. These affiliate marketing directories take care of the entire tracking process, i.e. the storage of the cookies, the registration of the click-through path from ShopDonation to the relevant webshop, and the commission being correctly allocated to ShopDonation.
We have also registered with the above-mentioned tracking systems, so from there we can agree to enter into a collaboration.
near the search bar.
near the search bar.
near the search bar.