Some of you on MSI have mentioned that you would like a charitable give back component tied to a Starbucks Card or other products. We wanted to share a couple of examples of implementations of this idea.
First, as many of you have probably heard, we recently launched the (STARBUCKS) RED campaign, which will donate five cents from the sale of every Starbucks Exclusive Holiday beverage in the U.S. and Canada to the Global Fund to invest in programs in Africa. This program begins on November 27th.
Second, the Starbucks Duetto® Visa® Card has had a donation tied to it since it launched in 2003 in the U.S. and 2005 in Canada. When a cardholder makes their initial purchase using the Starbucks Duetto® Visa® Card, a $5 donation is made to a nonprofit organization. Prior to 2008, the primary benefactor of the Duetto Card donation was CARE. Then in 2008, Starbucks began, and is currently supporting Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) in the U.S. Starbucks selected the Local Initiatives Support Corporation because as an organization they are dedicated to transforming neighborhoods into healthy and sustainable communities of choice through loans, grants, policy support and technical and management assistance. Over $600,000 has been contributed to these organizations so far.
In Canada, the Duetto program supports the Ethos Water Fund. The Ethos Water Fund provides grants to organizations that support bringing clean water to children around the world with hopes of establishing sustainable clean-water programs in Africa, Latin America, India and Indonesia. The Duetto program in Canada has contributed over $125,000 since 2005.
If you’re interested in learning more about the Starbucks Card Duetto® Visa®, visit http://www.starbucks.com/card/duetto.asp.