Goodshop Sunday lets shoppers give back

Most shoppers are familiar with Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, but Goodshop Sunday, a commercial holiday that lets shoppers give back to local nonprofits in need, is quickly gaining steam.

The Goodshop app for iOS gives shoppers access to deals and coupons at popular retail chains and donates an average of three percent of most purchases to the charity of the user’s choice.

“Studies say when all else is equal, shoppers will shop at merchants that share some of the profits with charities,” said Goodshop CEO Scott Garell.

The company, which operates the app as well as Goodshop.com, is based in San Francisco.

Boston non-profits that benefit from Goodshop include Oxfam America, Partners In Health, Daughters of St Paul, Boston Latin School, AES World Languages and Cultures Institute, Ascanius: The Youth Classics Institute, and the Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange, according to Goodshop.

Goodshop has raised more than $11 million for causes nationwide and on Goodshop Sunday, many partner retailers will be offering double donations and exclusive deals, according to Garell.

About 70 percent of online shoppers say they feel at least a little guilty that they are not donating more of the money they use to shop for gifts, according to a study by the National Retailers Association.

“We are asking Americans to take a pledge to buy one gift that gives back by forming a heart with your hand and challenging their friends to do the same,” Garell said of Goodshop’s Twitter campaign, #GoodShopSunday.