Winter Blowout Clearance Sale On Fashionable Fair Trade Products

With the 2014 holiday season drawing to a close, we hope you enjoyed the special warmth of gift giving, celebration, and being with family and friends. Is there such a thing as fair trade champagne for a New Years party? We’ll have to look that up. 

It's nearly 2015 and we’re very excited about the upcoming opportunities for fair trade online shopping at Shopping For A Change. We are busy sourcing & buying new items for this coming year. 

Help us make room for these new artisan products by shopping our Winter Blowout Clearance Sale with 10 – 90% off on 84 different products including jewelry, accessories, home décor, purses and more. 

We're completing our most successful year yet in serving the public with fair trade eco friendly products that are all hand made. Now is your chance to get some of these finely crafted, beautiful and socially conscious items at greatly reduced prices. 

And remember, we are an all volunteer nonprofit--no high administrative salaries here. When you shop with us your purchase is truly helping the artisans who made them, their communities, and other nonprofit institutions you select during the checkout process.  

Happy New Year and Happy Shopping

SFAC Listed in CNN’s 2014 Do-Gooder-Holiday-Gift-Guide

CNN’s annual Do-Gooder-Holiday-Gift-Guide just came out on the CNN website, and we are very proud to have a product included from Shopping for a Change amongst the chosen few recommended by CNN. Selected was our very colorful, Rainbow Hat that all infants  (and parents) will love—handmade by fair trade artisans in Bangladesh. It is on slide 11 of the CNN article’s slide show.

 

The CNN article starts out:

It's the month when we get stressed over the perfect gifts to give to family and friends. Are they foodies or travelers, lovers of movies and music, busy parents who need a break or children who love the latest electronic gadgets? Or would they be happier with something crafty?

With all the buying and selling going on, it can be hard to remember the point of the season for many people: Spending time with family, celebrating the religious holidays that inspire the season, and doing some good in the world.

You still have time to do your holiday shopping with us. We can ship items out overnight in time for your gift giving. Start by going to our home page and while there, be sure to check out our holiday bargain sale page with many popular items on sale right now. 

Our Holiday Sale Page Offers Too-Good-to-Pass-Up Bargains

Fair trade holiday gift shopping is one of the hottest trends this season. Most people think of fair trade as coffee, tea, chocolate and another agricultural products, but fair trade now covers the entire gamut of finely crafted items including jewelry, accessories, clothing, shoes, purses, home décor, toys and more.

Shopping for a Change’s online store has an entire department dedicated to bargain sales for holiday gift buying. Browse our virtual sales shelves to view fantastic bargains ranging from 10 – 50% OFF, including best sellers in jewelry, clothing, accessories, home décor. All are handmade and green eco friendly.

Not only will you find great prices on all of our fair trade items, but your gifts truly give back in multiple ways: to the artisans who make them, their communities and to U.S. based nonprofit organizations that our shoppers choose during the checkout process.

Quantities are limited so stop by soon! www.shoppingforachange.org

Stacey Horowitz, Founder SFAC, Featured on KRON 4 Bay Area News

Stacey Horowitz—founder and CEO of Shopping For a Change—appeared on San Francisco Bay Area news channel TV KRON 4 on November 29^th to talk about her nonprofit fair trade online site, a number of the unique products she’s offering for the holiday season, how she got started and the artisans she works with globally. Interviewed by Will Tran of KRON (go here to see interview)—who was enthused about the story and the SFAC products on display in the studios—Stacey told how her nonprofit and fair trade products are unique. While holding up an extraordinarily beautiful purse made by Brazilian women completely out of pop can tops, she explained how SFAC uses all profits to directly help the artisans (mostly women), their communities with education and living resources, and nonprofits which the shoppers choose during the checkout process.

The Brazilian pop top purses are a big hit, and all styles are selling fast. Stacey purchased and has carried her own Greta style pop top bag for close to a year,  saying everywhere she takes it, women and men alike stop her to comment on it. Get one for your loved ones (go here).

In the KRON interview Stacey told how SFAC was founded following a trip to Peru after witnessing the poverty of craftspeople there who were mothers with families and individuals truly struggling in all expressions of life that we might normally take for granted. Stacey wanted to help make a difference, and see the artisans and communities around the world grow in prosperity.

Will asked if the items SFAC carries are affordable,  to which Stacey explained that absolutely they are affordable, costing no more than items that are made and marketed conventionally. From home décor to jewelry, accessories, kitchen, table wares and more, Stacey explained how the products are well priced while still paying the artisans fairly and enabling the customers’ purchases to help fund community improvement projects abroad and support their choice of domestic nonprofits.

Still need to do your holiday shopping? Visit the SFAC online marketplace now, or very soon for fabulous collections and great bargain sales (before they run out). Tell all your friends and relatives too. 

Sunset Magazine Showcases Our Bamboo Bowl, Dec 2nd Ladies Night Out

Did you know Sunset Magazine has a circulation of 1.25 million? For the holidays Sunset puts out their 100 Fresh Holiday Ideas issue, reaching all those readers and shoppers. This year’s ideas issue included our Vietnamese-made bamboo fruit bowl as one of their 100 picks, and we’re receiving oodles of orders coming in from Washington state down to Texas and over to Washington D.C.—even abroad. For one of a kind creative gifts that you won’t find elsewhere, visit Shopping for a Change’s online store. Be sure not to miss our clearance sale page as well.

For the 3^rd year in a row we are setting up many of our offerings in a beautiful, inspiring display at the Domenico Winery in San Carlos, CA for their annual Ladies Night Out Holiday Shopping Extravaganza. The event is for the ladies, but men can crash the party too. Fine wine (no-host wine bar and light appetizers) mixed with holiday shopping in a lovely, hospitable winery—sounds like the perfect shopping opportunity. We invite you to join us 6-9 pm on December 2^nd 2014. Admission is free. We’ll see you there.

Domenico Winery1697 Industrial Rd, San Carlos, CA 94070, (650) 593-2335

Give Back Globally On Giving Tuesday, December 2, 2014

We all know of Black Friday, and have become acquainted with Cyber Monday, but are you familiar with #Giving Tuesday? #GivingTuesday is a day when people around the world come together to give back. Founded in 2012 by the 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation, #Giving Tuesday grew out of a response to commercialization and consumerism in the post-Thanksgiving season.

Recognized as the first Tuesday following Thanksgiving, #Giving Tuesday has become a time for charities, families, businesses, community centers, and students around the world to come together for one common purpose: to celebrate generosity and to give.

It’s a simple idea. Just find a way for your family, your community, your company or your organization to come together to give something more. Then tell everyone you can about how you are giving. Join us and be a part of a global celebration of a new tradition of generosity. Together we are bringing change to the world through our Shopping for a Change^® business model. Your purchase creates work and a fair income for our artisans, helps the U.S. based nonprofit of your choice, and also funds our next community improvement project: 2 preschools for children of our artisans in Bangladesh.

Here’s a great idea. Combine the #Giving Tuesday celebration with your Holiday shopping. We’ve added more beautiful and fun fair trade items to our online store to meet your shopping needs: purses, accessories, jewelry, home décor pieces, and then some. Please visit our store during your holiday shopping times and celebrate giving.

SFAC’s Stacey Horowitz Writes for Fast Company Magazine

Shopping For A Change founder Stacey Horowitz recently wrote an insightful article for Fast Company business magazine called 6 Steps to Building a Purpose-Driven Business. In the piece she discusses her perspectives and advice on starting a business (through her experience starting the nonprofit Shopping for a Change) and seeing it through its initial years of growth and challenges. Her 6 steps include: Take It Slowly, Do Things Differently, Don’t Go It Alone, Master The Art Of Fundraising, Be Prepared To Go Off-Road, Look At Your Accomplishments—Not Just Your To-Do List. Click here to read full article. 

She writes: I’ve ridden over many potholes while building the (Shopping for a Change) business, and the journey has been slower than I expected. Despite some angel funding, we’ve had to bootstrap our growth. As a result, I wear many hats, and we’re still an all-volunteer organization.

Because of these ongoing challenges, I have to remind myself to look back at our achievements rather than focus solely on where I still want to take the organization. In the four years since our launch, the business has grown from partnering with 11 artisan groups in Africa and South America to over 40 artisan groups spanning four continents and 28 countries, touching more than 25,000 lives domestically and abroad.

Fundraising for Shopping For A Change continues strongly during the 60-day Indiegogo campaign that began on September 5^th. There are 8 days left to contribute and participate in this crowd-funding effort that will take SFAC to the next level. Please visit our Indiegogo campaign here to contribute as a prelude to the upcoming Holiday Season. Click here to visit the SFAC Indiegogo contribution page. 

Southern Lady Magazine Features Our Ventana Necklace

The Southern Lady magazine—which celebrates and inspires women of the south—included the fair trade necklace Ventana Necklace in its Savvy Traveler section. This is a show-and-tell section that features special items that are particularly good for travel. The Ventana Necklace—from the Faire Collection, and made by artisans in Ecuador, South America—was laid out at the top of the page under the heading: Cute for a Cause, with a brief intro reading: Show support for fair trade practices with this stunning necklace, handmade by artisans in Ecuador. Other items surrounding the necklace included metallic luxe luggage on wheels, sunglasses, a gauzy scarf and a small purse with a plethora of pockets. The Ventana Necklace is available for purchase as part of our jewelry collection. Click here. One of our first Shopping for a Change partnerships was with Faire Collection and we carry many stunning pieces from them. The artisans from Ecuador who make this necklace and many others have greatly expanded their workshops and employees since working with Faire Collection, beginning in 2008.

For fair trade jewelry Christmas Holiday shopping and many other categories, please go here to explore all we offer this season. 

Guatemalan Women Seeing Great Improvement in Lives: Fair Trade Work

Recently, as a result of fair trade employment among Guatemalan women, there has been a huge increase in individual and community purchasing power. The increase in global fair trade purchasing in fashion items (including jewelry) which highland Guatemalan women are particularly skilled at making has meant a corresponding increase in what they are earning from the fair trade guilds or companies they’re working for. Some have seen a three to four fold increase in their take home pay. This translates into the ability to invest in their children’s education, bring meats and fruits into their diets, build additional rooms in their homes, and buy their first plots of land. Considering that Guatemala has the third highest malnutrition rate in the world at 54.5 percent, this is truly welcome news, and speaks for the expansion of fair trade employment in Guatemala. It also means that fair trade fashion items from Guatemala and other South American countries are having an impact on global fashion, and becoming a viable competing force.

At Shopping For a Change we have  partnerships with several South American fair trade artisan groups and manufacturers including Altiplano of Guatemala. Please visit our jewelry section to shop for many items from South America. Fair trade eco friendly jewelry from SFAC combines fashion trend aesthetics, highest quality and handmade crafting, and socially conscious buying in which each piece bought helps many. And, in addition, we are nonprofit so not only are the artisans paid fairly, but your purchases are funding community improvement projects in the artisans’ communities focused on  clean water, health care and education, as well as supporting U.S. nonprofits of your choice.

Fair trade jewelry shopping, including for upcoming holiday Christmas season, shop here>

Fair Trade Product Real Growth: Global Retail Sales Increase 15%

Here is an inspiring and satisfying fact for all fair trade consumers: retail sales globally of fair trade products—from jewelry to clothes to purses/accessories and more—grew over the past year by 15%. And this is no small number. Sales of fair trade crops and goods reached $7.3 billion in 2013, so this increase is very significant. It means that working men and women in developing economy countries are earning more for themselves and their communities, and more people are being hired. We at SFAC are proud to be a part of this growth. We deeply appreciate our customers who make all of this possible with their purchases and socially conscious commitment. Our sales are in the USA and Canada and it is the US which has led the world in increased fair trade purchasing. There are many more growth initiatives in place to boost fair trade awareness and purchasing for 2014.

One of the hottest items in the fair trade products world are purses and handbags. Fair trade eco friendly purses handbags (including tote bags) is surpassing jewelry in terms of online searches and purchases. The selection of purse items has grown enormously for fair trade and friendly to the environment. If you’re thinking you need a new purse or handbag for yourself or as a gift for someone, please visit our excellent, fashion-savvy collection. We believe we’ve found the best of the best. We feature many styles and sizes, crafted from a range of natural materials. Please visit our purse collection here. 

How long are your arms?

Long enough to feed a child, pet a dog, hug a loved one, and plant a tree. What if I told you your arms were long enough to also make a difference halfway around the world?

As you may know, we have just embarked on a 45-day Indiegogo campaign to raise funds to expand our operation. We are excited to announce that in just over a week we have raised just over $10,000 of our $50,000 goal!

As a non-profit with no paid employees, this money will enable us to pay for new inventory, update our marketing materials, hire a professional photographer and graphic artists, expand our reach through public relations, and finance our first paid employee to assist me. All of these expenditures are vital to the growth of our business, so we can continue to help communities both abroad and at home. 

Please help us expand our outreach by sharing our campaign link - http://igg.me/at/shoppingforachange - with your network. We could not have gotten this far without your support, and we hope you will consider a donation of any amount to enable us to continue empowering others and transforming lives. 

When you go Shopping for a Change®, you help improve the lives of disadvantaged artisans around the world, mostly woman, by creating steady employment for them. In turn, you enable them to put food on their tables, a roof over their family’s heads, and afford them the ability to educate their children, including the girls.

Thank you for your support!
Stacey

Where Has the Time "Gone, Gone" & How Do We "Go, Go" Forward?

It seems like just yesterday that I was attending my son’s high school graduation, then immediately sending him off to Camp Newman to be a counselor and song leader for 8 weeks. It was now his turn to help create a fantastically memorable summer for children, as so many counselors had done for him over the years, and at a place that had become his second home.

During his absence this summer I was hard at work with the support of our Shopping for a Change® interns: six incredible high school juniors and seniors who volunteered their time learning about what we do, and how to help make a difference in the world 

Our first two weeks were spent behind the scenes in photo shoots and editing images for the newest version of our website (if you haven’t checked it out yet, click here to do so).

The next six weeks were spent developing our first crowdfunding campaign. In case you’re not familiar with this newer term, crowd·fund·ing (ˈkroudˌfəndiNG/) is by definition, the practice of funding a project or venture by raising many small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the Internet. We created ours on a website called Indiegogo.com.

Beginning Friday September 5th, we will launch our 45-day Indiegogo campaign to raise funds to expand our operation. As you may know, we currently operate as an all-volunteer organization, with no paid employees. I handle all of the roles and tasks associated with running a small business and generally have very little outside help. 

It thrills us to say that in the four years since our launch, we have grown from partnering with 11 artisan groups in Africa and South America to over 40 artisan groups spanning 4 continents and 28 countries. That’s over 25,000 lives that we have touched! Our business has tripled, indicating that people are excited by the way our organization enables them to help both at home and abroad.

Our goal is to raise $50,000 through this Indiegogo campaign. With this money, we will be able to update our marketing materials, pay for new inventory, hire a professional photographer and graphic artists, expand our reach through public relations, and finance our first paid employee to assist me. All of these expenditures are vital to the growth of our business, so we can continue our important work. 

We invite you to watch our video on our campaign page, learn more about our Indiegogo campaign by going to http://igg.me/at/shoppingforachange, and explore the wonderful perks we have put together (thank you gifts in exchange for your tax deductible donations). We could not have gotten this far without your support and we hope you will consider a donation of any amount to enable us to continue empowering others and transforming lives. 

We appreciate your support and encourage you to share this blog post with your friends and family!

Warm wishes,

Stacey

Shopping for a Change^® is a registered 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Updates from the Amazon!

In early January of this year, SFAC collaborated with the Faire Collection (formerly the Andean Collection), and put half of the net proceeds from our 2013 sales to good use.  After working together for months, a plan was made and in the middle of May, our program began.  The Ecuadorian artisan groups of Nueva Esperanza, San Pedro, and San Francisco excitedly completed 16 hours of workshops, with a total of 22 families participating.  Each family was able to learn, both in the classroom and the soil, proper building and planting techniques, and the importance of a balanced diet, with the goal of owning their own healthy, sustainable farms.  With a little help, these people who are part of the Kichwa Tribe in the Ecuadorian Amazon are overcoming malnourishment, one lesson at a time.

Families learn the principles of permaculture and discuss the importance of a balanced diet, with emphasis on fruits and vegetables.

Women receive practical, hands-on experience in soil quality testing, soil composition, and setting up garden beds for proper drainage and pest control.

Families take notes on the valuable information they received, ready to implement it into their daily lives.

Shopping for a Change® Partners with Pebble to Build New Preschools in Bangladesh

Part of Shopping for a Change’s mission is to fund community improvement projects throughout the world in our artisans’ communities with a focus on clean water, health-care and education. When you shop with us, your purchases this year will support two new preschools for artisan families working with our partner, Pebble Child. Pebble provides work for  6,800 disadvantaged women throughout 65 rural places throughout Bangladesh. Forty children, ages 3-6 whose mother’s handcraft Pebble’s adorable handknit toys and apparel, will be chosen to attend these two new schools in Sirajgonj and Mouliribazar, free of charge.

Primary school in Bangladesh begins for boys and girls when they are around six years old.The ability to attend one of our new preschools will help these bright young minds get a jump start on their ABCs and numbers, putting them ahead of their peers when they begin primary school. The preschools will be on site of where the mothers will be working, alleviating pressure for mothers who want to care of their children and also do a good job at work. At other workshop locations which already have preschools, the mothers’ income has grown because of the greater focus they mothers wield knowing their children are safe.

Your purchases at Shopping for a Change are invaluable because half of the net proceeds from sales during 2014 will fund this project. When you shop with us you provide employment to the artisans, will help fund these new preschools and will support the U.S. based nonprofit organization of your choice. Go Shopping for a Change.

5 Powerful Reasons for Fair Trade Clothing/Accessories

For our Shopping for a Change friends, here are 5 quick talking points on how fair trade is the powerful purchasing and ethical model to continue following.

1. Fair Trade helps farmers and workers earn a living by allocating more of your money to where it’s most needed.
2. Fair Trade supports women through equal pay and equal rights while providing healthcare and business opportunities.
3. Environmental Fair Trade standards are strict; farmers must set targets and track progress in reducing water, waste and energy usage.
4. Fair trade offers a supportive work environment where employees are fairly compensated, creating a high satisfaction and low turnover rate.
5. Fair trade certified products are readily available online and in stores near you.

Shopping for a Change offers exquisite, environmentally friendly accessories.  This summer, shop our handmade, special occasion items for you or someone you love. SFAC fair trade artisans specialize in the use of natural, sustainable materials.  You will find gorgeous one-of-a-kind purses, scarves and belts crafted from the finest alpaca, cashmere, linen, cotton, and wool. Artisans employ a variety of techniques from knitting, to leather & metal smithing–making your purchase unique. Vintage fabrics, netting and pop-tops are among the recycled materials used in our original collections. At Shopping for a Change, you can feel good about your accessory purchase without sacrificing beauty or ethics.