Pomona, NY – BizBack.com, a new shopping-deals website which launched this month, is enabling ordinary consumers and advertisers to donate money to charitable causes such as the Red Cross or their local schools without feeling the pain of parting with their hard-earned cash. The company, which runs under the slogan, “Shopping with heart,” donates a full 50% of the profits from each sale to charity, essentially allowing customers to donate money by saving money.

BizBack.com, based in Rockland County, NY, uses the collective buying power of its customer base to negotiate deals with businesses around the country, from groceries to restaurants and spas, and then features these deals on their website. Customers can view deals based on their location, age and interests, and can choose to participate in a deal by purchasing a voucher that can be presented at the business in question.

When customers sign up with BizBack, they are asked to select a charity that is meaningful to them, and when businesses post deals, they are asked to choose their favorite charity as well. Then, when a customer buys a voucher, BizBack donates 25% of their profits to the customer’s charity, and 25% to the business’s charity. The business’s charity is also featured prominently alongside their deal, so customers can choose to send the full 50% to that charity.

In addition, customers can create an important cause of their own, which will be added to BizBack’s database, allowing others around the country to choose it as well.

Eytan Dzikowski, the founder and CEO of BizBack, says that the company was founded specifically with the purpose of helping worthy causes. “We got the idea when we were asked to contribute money to our children’s schools,” he says.  “We told them, ‘We want to help but what do you expect us to do?  Start another business on the side just so we could afford to donate money?’ But then we started thinking about all the other people these days that can’t afford to donate money because they’re all looking to save money.  So why not have people help others by helping themselves?”

Dzikowski says that the setup will allow charities to receive residuals with every purchase, without having to expend manpower on soliciting donations which, these days are met by less success than ever.

“Charities and worthy causes have taken a hit in the past couple of years,” he says.  “More people need their services, and less people can donate.”

Indeed, according to a recent study by the Indiana University Center for Philanthropy, charitable giving has taken a sizeable hit due to the recession, with 40% of charitable organizations reporting that contributions declined during the first five months of 2010.  Most families these days have a hard enough time providing for themselves, and are just happy if they personally don’t need the services that the charities are providing.

“Our charities were created to help people in need,” Eytan says.  “But who’s helping them?”

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