With locally grown MI Deals for Charity, daily deals are run a bit differently. Created by John and Shawn Tol, MI Deals for Charity allows visitors to purchase a deal outright, with a percentage of the full price going to a local charity of their choice, they can purchase the deal at a discount, with the charity receiving a smaller percentage of the deal, or customers can allow the business to choose the charity to be benefited and allow some sort of perk of their own.
The Tol’s have put in the footwork to shop their own deal around to businesses and charities, but once the ball got rolling, and people started to pick up on the importance of such an economy, businesses and charities started doing the work for them.
“The restaurants and businesses we’ve talked to have been super excited for a number of ways,” John Tol said. “First of all, we charge less than the national deal execs do and that keeps more money in their pocket. Second, we give the charity the opportunity to refer its business, and we’ll pay them on every deal sold, along with every time that charity is picked to be benefited. There a lot of opportunities for the charities to participate. Out of the whole, we should be able to help each other and move forward.”
Currently, MI Deals for Charity is running a deal with Brush Studio, offering a $49 package, including a 2.5-hour painting class and a glass of house wine for $21, with $6 donated to Kids' Food Basket and 5 percent donated to the buyers’ charity. Heather Callahan, of Brush Studio, said the experience with MI Deals for Charity has been nothing less than refreshing, showing how a seemingly stale idea can be renewed into something that helps a community in more ways than one.
I’m a west Michigan guy and it bothers me that these deal sites come in and beat up on local merchants so much, who are just trying to support their business. Then they leave and take this money to Chicago or wherever. I think this will be a great alternative for people to say, “Hey, I want to support local and I want to help put the charity of my choice.” -John Tol
“We have had a great experience with MI Deals for Charity,” Callahan said. “Shawn and John are really great people with a passion to see our community supported. I feel like once people realize that it’s not just another deal site—that it will grow like crazy.
Callahan, as a small business owner, said she is always looking for creative ways to reach new customers, which often includes some sort of discount program.
“Running a deal with MI Deals for Charity has done just that,” she said “Who wouldn't want new customers and be giving money back to some great community organizations?”
The site is easy to use and well-organized, Callahan said, and the business is run fairly and honestly.
“Our experience with MI Deals for Charity has made me realize that the ‘big deal’ websites should soon be obsolete and that as a small business we should be honored to support another local small business that is so focused on giving back,” she said.