Local nonprofits to use Groupon for donations

Groupon subscribers in Colorado Springs can help lower energy bills for low-income families in exchange for carbon offsets.

Groundwork Denver, an environmental justice non-profit, runs the porch bulb project that swaps out inefficient incandescent porch bulbs for compact fluorescent bulbs. With the support of Groupon members, Groundwork hopes to raise enough money to swap out 192 bulbs, bringing the total number of swapped bulbs to 10,000. Replacing 10,000 bulbs saves $200,000 in electricity costs and reduces greenhouse gasses by 4,000 tons.

The Groupon campaign starts today and will run through Aug. 25. Using the G-Team collective action model – similar to Groupon’s model to offer local deals on other products – Groupon members can pledge support for the porch bulb project in increments of $10. Each donation will reduce the energy bills of two low-income families by $50 and reduce greenhouse gases by 1,600 pounds. In exchange, Groupon members will be invited to a volunteer event this fall to help install the bulbs.

One Response to “Local nonprofits to use Groupon for donations”

1. Wendy Hawthorne Says:
   August 23rd, 2011 at 4:54 pm

   The Groundwork Groupon campaign has almost reached the tipping point of 40 donors! We are grateful to Groupon for giving our project this extra exposure and helping us raise money to install our 10,000th energy efficient porch bulb. The G-Team page is here: http://www.groupon.com/deals/gt-groundwork-denver if anyone wants to join the campaign!

   We’ll have a volunteer event in Colorado Springs on Saturday October 8th to install the bulbs.

   - Wendy Hawthorne, Executive Director
   Groundwork Denver