Why Shoes?
Shoe Drives Are What Funds2Orgs Does. Every. Single. Day.
We’re a for-profit social enterprise company that’s all about shoe drives and fundraising success. We think you may like to know why thousands of nonprofits, schools, churches, groups and individuals have partnered with us. You can read about our story and creative fundraising ideas, but here we’d like to answer why we get excited about shoes.Shoes are in the DNA of Funds2Orgs. Don’t believe us? Check out our office and partner photos on this page. We’re all about shoes and unique fundraising ideas.
But why?
It’s simple.
We believe, and so do thousands of fundraising partners, we offer something different. Let’s face it. There’s “donor fatigue” out there. You’ve probably heard supporters tell you they’re tired of multiple fundraisers. They’re continually asked for money. They love the causes. They love the missions they support. But, they’re bored of the same old fundraiser and being asked for money all the time. Got something different?
Funds2Orgs helps our shoe drive fundraising partners with a new way to engage supporters. Our partners never have to ask anyone for money. All they have to do is collect gently worn, used and new shoes. Funds2Orgs issues a check for the shoes gathered. The amount of the check is based on the total weight of the shoes collected.
Team members from Funds2Orgs have traveled to developing nations to see micro-entrepreneurs in action. Micro-entrepreneurs create their own small businesses. Typically, there are only one or two people working. Due to poverty in many developing countries, working age adults have to create their own economic opportunities.
We’ve seen poverty first-hand. We’ve spoken to families looking for an economic path. We know that people in developing countries would take a sustainable living wage over charity if they could. They prefer a hand-up, rather than a hand-out. We serve as one of the bridges for philanthropy. That’s why we’ve partnered with micro-entrepreneurs around the globe, and provide creative fundraising ideas in North America.
The shoe drives in the United States and Canada help Funds2Orgs collect shoes. Those shoes are shipped to countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe.
Local small business entrepreneurs (i.e. micro-entrepreneurs) around the world purchase the shoes for pennies on the dollar. They are then sold to retail customers for a fraction of their original price in North America. This is done because our business model helps communities and people in developing nations to create and grow profitable businesses of their own. The commerce helps the local economies.
Want to know one of the best things that happen with the shoes we collect after shoe drive fundraisers?
They help families (mothers and fathers) provide for their children. We know families that have gone from earning as little as $2 a day, which is extreme poverty, to over $60 a day. That’s a living wage.
The Funds2Orgs team loves Earth just as much as you do. This is our home. With our unique fundraisers, we provide organizations and individuals with a socially responsible fundraiser.
Have you ever thought about what happens to the shoes thrown away in the garbage? Annually, in the United States alone, over 600 million shoes end up in landfills. That’s not cool. With our shoe drive fundraisers, we have a way to re-purpose shoes so this does not happen.
- Shoes are made of dozens of parts. These parts are stitched and glued together. As they break-down, some parts release invisible toxins into the air. Yes, one of the reasons towns with open landfills have a higher incidence of respiratory diseases is because of decomposing shoes.
- The average human lifespan in the U.S. is 78.74 years. The average shoe with rubber fully disintegrates in a landfill in 80 years! We think we can do better.
- As a for-profit social enterprise, Funds2Orgs’ business model helps communities in North America. It gives our neighborhoods a way to dispose of shoes in a socially responsible way.
And that’s why shoes–and shoe drives–are so important!