FAQ - Frequently asked questions

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 our introduction page about what you can expect.

There are 4 payout dates per year, wherein payment is made after a minimum of €50 has been raised. There is always a minimum period of 3 months between the moment of purchase and the paying out of the donation. This is because a purchase can often be returned for 2 months (or longer), whereby the commission is not paid out to ShopDonation and thus the donation cannot be given.

Once this period has passed, the transaction will be receive the status ''accepted'' and will be paid out at the next payout moment:

On 10-01 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 €50, is not achieved, then the amount shifts to the next period, until this minimum of €50, is achieved.

You can see in My account - My project which status a transaction has. 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

- If a cause deregisters from ShopDonation, the amount raised under €50 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.

Cause of the month is a scheme where, if chosen, your project is set as the default when someone opens ShopDonation for the first time. This means that if they don’t change their chosen cause, they will shop for the Cause of the month. We also promote the featured cause on our social media platforms.

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 for example promoted on the website and social media).

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.

It may take up to 48 hours before you see a confirmation of the donation in your account and receive a confirmation email. If you haven't received a confirmation after these 48 hours, please fill out the contact form. In most cases, we can still retrieve the donation connected to your purchase.

ShopDonation uses an international tracking system that is owned by the webshops. Together we verify if all transactions sent to us by the webshops are indeed correct. Therefore, we appreciate it if you let us know when a donation doesn't come through, so that we can contact the respective webshop.

When will a purchase not be detected by the system?

- 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. Some webshops also consider a click from a Google advertisement as a different affiliate channel. If you have already clicked through from another website and you are going to make a purchase via ShopDonation, please use a different browser or device.

- The cookies on the webshop were not accepted. Always click 'yes' or 'ok' when prompted for cookie consent on the webshop.

- The order was made using more than one browser or device.

- Discount or coupon codes were used that were not provided by ShopDonation.

- Browser extensions linking to reward or coupon sites were enabled while using ShopDonation.

- If the cookie settings on a device are set to 'very strict', the tracking system does not work. Computers used in an office or business environment often have this mode enabled.

- If you are using a browser or software that blocks cookies. Disable all ad-blocking software while using ShopDonation. Some antivirus and firewall software (such as ZoneAlarm or Norton Internet Security) have ad-blocking enabled by default.

- When a VPN or a proxy server is used on ShopDonation.
 

Tips to make your purchases successfully result in donations:
 

- Do not visit the webshop through other websites before making the click through ShopDonation. If you did already make a click from another channel, use a different browser or device that has not had a click through to the respective webshop.

- Do not interrupt the ordering process or do any other browsing after you've clicked the webshop link. Do not open other tabs, visit other websites, and use only one device.

- Do not make a purchase through multiple tabs or devices.

- For each purchase, a unique click from ShopDonation must be made (saving the link without clicking through ShopDonation does not work).

- Wait until you reach the 'thank-you page'.

- Only use the mobile browser of the webshop. Do not use the mobile app of the webshop (except for Bol.com, Thuisbezorgd, and Aliexpress, you can use their mobile apps).

- Do not visit the webshop itself before clicking from ShopDonation.

- Ensure your shopping cart is empty when you arrive at the webshop.

- Use only ShopDonation discount/voucher codes.

- Do not make a purchase via phone or live chat.

If a device and browser have generated a donation correctly before through ShopDonation, we recommend always using these.

Read more detailed information on how the tracking system works and how to prevent missed purchases.
 

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.

We appreciate it if you report a missed purchase

Therefore, please send the missed purchase to ShopDonation, and we will contact our contact person at the webshop. Sometimes it may take a while for the webshop to investigate the purchase in their system, unfortunately we have no control over that.

We will continue to reach out to the webshop until we have a satisfactory answer: either the donation will be awarded retroactively, or there must be a valid reason why the commission was not awarded (for example, if the commission was attributed to another party due to a click made from another website). Together, we verify the information provided by the webshops to ShopDonation, so we appreciate it if you bring a missed purchase to our attention. 

ShopDonation uses an international tracking system that is owned by the webshops. Together we verify if all transactions sent to us by the webshops are indeed correct. Therefore, we appreciate it if you let us know when a donation doesn't come through, so that we can contact the respective webshop.In most cases, we can still retrieve the donation connected to your purchase.
 

When will a purchase not be detected by the system?

- 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. Some webshops also consider a click from a Google advertisement as a different affiliate channel. If you have already clicked through from another website and you are going to make a purchase via ShopDonation, please use a different browser or device.

- The cookies on the webshop were not accepted. Always click 'yes' or 'ok' when prompted for cookie consent on the webshop.

- The order was made using more than one browser or device.

- Discount or coupon codes were used that were not provided by ShopDonation.

- Browser extensions linking to reward or coupon sites were enabled while using ShopDonation.

- If the cookie settings on a device are set to 'very strict', the tracking system does not work. Computers used in an office or business environment often have this mode enabled.

- If you are using a browser or software that blocks cookies. Disable all ad-blocking software while using ShopDonation. Some antivirus and firewall software (such as ZoneAlarm or Norton Internet Security) have ad-blocking enabled by default.

- When a VPN or a proxy server is used on ShopDonation.
 

Tips to make your purchases successfully result in donations

- Do not visit the webshop through other websites before making the click through ShopDonation. If you did already make a click from another channel, use a different browser or device that has not had a click through to the respective webshop.

- Do not interrupt the ordering process or do any other browsing after you've clicked the webshop link. Do not open other tabs, visit other websites, and use only one device.

- Do not make a purchase through multiple tabs or devices.

- For each purchase, a unique click from ShopDonation must be made (saving the link without clicking through ShopDonation does not work).

- Wait until you reach the 'thank-you page'.

- Only use the mobile browser of the webshop. Do not use the mobile app of the webshop (except for Bol.com, Thuisbezorgd, and Aliexpress, you can use their mobile apps).

- Do not visit the webshop itself before clicking from ShopDonation.

- Ensure your shopping cart is empty when you arrive at the webshop.

- Use only ShopDonation discount/voucher codes.

- Do not make a purchase via phone or live chat.

If a device and browser have generated a donation correctly before through ShopDonation, we recommend always using these.

Read more detailed information on how the tracking system works and how to prevent missed purchases.
 

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 (contact email).

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.
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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.
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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, 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.
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- 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.

Before a webshop can be added to the collection of 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 awin.com or tradetracker.com. They take care of the entire "tracking", i.e. the storage of the cookies, the registration where one can see the click through path from Shopdonation to the relevant shop, and that the bonus is finally awarded to ShopDonation.

We have also registered with the mentioned tracking systems and there we can agree to enter into a collaboration.