ShiftMyGift.com: website from Chester County’s Blair Souder is gift registry for donations

Blair Souder of ShiftmyGift.com. Photography by Ryan Donnell

Say that for Christmas, you didn’t want gifts. Instead, you’d rather have friends and family donate to a cause of you’re choosing.

A Chester County startup aims to be the solution, with its ShiftMyGift.com.

Launched in August by Blair Souder after being moved by a hiking trip in poor swaths of Nepal, the site acts like an online gift registry for nonprofits, in which users highlight philanthropic efforts they support. Others can make donations on their behalf, from which Shift My Gift takes a $1.49 processing fee and makes 4.75 percent ‘grant’ to the Network for Good — the group through which the donations are made – as Entrepreneur reported. USA Today has also covered the project.

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Donate your old laptops to Nonprofit Technology Resources

Donate laptops to Nonprofit Technology Resources during Philly Tech Week and beyond.

Nonprofit Technology Resources, which refurbishes computers, offers training and workforce development for low-income Philadelphians, is hosting a laptop donation drive during Philly Tech Week.

NTR is accepting laptops with at least a Pentium 4 processer, which includes just about any laptop purchased since 2001. Donations to the nonprofit are tax deductible and all laptops are wiped clean of any remaining personal data, information or files. NTR can accommodate large donations from established groups and organizations.

There is greater interest and need for laptop donations to connect lower-income Philadelphians than ever, says NTR founder Stan Pokras, as computing moves away from the desktop.

While the  nonprofit is located at 1524 Brandywine Street in the Spring Garden neighborhood, laptop donations can be brought to the remaining Philly Tech Week lunchtime series events at WHYY from 12-1 p.m. today, tomorrow and Friday. If you are interested in donating otherwise, contact us or NTR. Find all PTW events listed here.

In March, Technically Philly reported on NTR budget concerns, which are on-going.

[Full Disclosure: NTR is a former TP advertiser]

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Mmy Moon.