The coffee industry is in a state of emergency. Coffee is one of the most in-demand commodities on the planet, with the global coffee industry worth over $200 billion. Yet, many coffee farmers struggle just to feed their families.&nbsp;&nbsp;
This global coffee crisis is due to the incredibly cheap price of coffee. Coffee farms, many of which are located in developing countries, are struggling to cover their costs, let alone make a profit. They are forced to lower their standards, lower wages or fire workers, and grow in a hazardous or unsustainable way. We contribute to this problem when we purchase cheap coffee from companies that value ease and speed over quality and fair wages.&nbsp;
<h1 style="text-align: left;">You Can Help by Drinking Fair Trade and Organic Coffee</h1>


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All of us can impact the coffee industry in a positive way. By purchasing Fair Trade and organic coffee, you can &lsquo;vote with your dollar&rsquo; for a quality product, ethical farming practices, and fair living wages for coffee growers. Read on to see how drinking Fair Trade and organic coffee can help with the global coffee crisis.
<h2>Fair Trade Helps Farmers Get Paid Fairly</h2>
&nbsp;The incredibly cheap price of coffee is one of the main culprits of the global coffee crisis.&nbsp; Something called the &lsquo;C Price&rsquo; largely dictates what a coffee grower can sell a bag of coffee for on the market. The &lsquo;C Price&rsquo; is what coffee is sold as a commodity for on the New York Stock Exchange. Although this doesn&rsquo;t directly control how much a supplier will be able to sell their coffee for, it is the basic guideline for anyone buying or selling coffee.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;The C Price dropped from $2 a pound in 2014 to a 14 year low of 89 cents a pound in 2019. At this price, almost any coffee producer would be selling at a loss. This means debts pile up, laborers&rsquo; wages are slashed or they&rsquo;re fired, and communities go hungry.
&nbsp;Although the reasons for the volatile coffee price are complex, Fair Trade Coffee offers a solution. The Fair Trade minimum price guarantees those who sell on fair trade terms at least $1.40 per pound, or $1.70 per pound if the coffee is also certified organic. This is only a minimum benchmark, and if the market price goes over the benchmark, then coffee growers would be able to trade at a higher price.&nbsp; Having a minimum price helps coffee farmers make smarter investments, hire and pay workers with confidence, and feed their families.
<h2>Fair Trade Terms Help Communities</h2>


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An estimated 90 percent of globally traded coffee comes from developing countries, and the global coffee crisis has&nbsp;hit poor, rural communities the hardest. In some cases, the health and welfare of an entire community depend on the success of a single farm. In places like Guatemala, coffee farmers who are forced to operate at a loss because of the falling market price of coffee <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2019/06/19/why-are-people-leaving-central-america/?sh=5c9f071b6c51">sometimes abandon their farms and attempt to migrate to the US</a> in hopes of a better life.&nbsp;
Fair Trade coffee is sold with terms that help communities. On top of the minimum benchmark price, producers also earn an extra $.20 on each pound of coffee sold on fair trade terms for their Community Development Fund. From this fund, coffee farmers in their cooperative can vote democratically on how they want to allocate their funds.
Farmers can put this money towards supporting their communities on a social, economical, or environmental level. At least 25 percent of this money must go to improving their own operations, by leveling up their productivity and quality initiatives. This helps farms be more resilient in the face of climate change and a volatile market.&nbsp;
<h2>Fair Trade Encourages Healthy Growing Practices</h2>
When farmers are operating at a loss due to lowered market prices, they often are forced to cut costs by any means. They may begin to use unsafe methods to grow their crops more cheaply. In some cases, they are compelled to fire workers and rely on chemicals more than labor. Instead of growing coffee in its natural, shady environment, they may grow hybrid plants in full sun. These hybrids can be harvested more quickly and planted more densely. This puts the farm at risk of soil erosion and destroys the natural balance of the local ecosystem.&nbsp;
When farmers are being paid an adequate amount for their products, they are able to maintain healthy growing practices and invest in environmentally sustainable processes. Although Fair Trade USA doesn&rsquo;t require coffee growers to operate organically, they do offer a premium price for organic coffee. They also have an Agricultural Production standard that, according to the <a href="https://www.fairtradecertified.org/news/fair-trade-coffee-myths">Fair Trade USA website</a>, includes &lsquo;a range of environmental protections with criteria related to efficient water usage; protection of biodiversity, forests, and waterways; prevention of the use of GMOs and reduction of harmful pesticides; utilization of techniques for integrated pest management and soil health; and waste disposal management.&rsquo;
Luckily, more organically grown coffees are certified as Fair Trade than &lsquo;conventionally&rsquo; grown coffees. Between 1998 and 2018, Fair Trade USA certified around 1.06 billion pounds of organic coffee. They only certified 780 million pounds of conventional coffee.&nbsp;
<h2>Organic Coffee Is Grown Without Chemicals</h2>
Meeting the huge demand for coffee around the world, at incredibly cheap prices has not been easy on farmers. As a result, farmers are forced to grow coffee in a way that puts themselves, the environment, and the consumer at risk.&nbsp;
Conventionally grown coffee is one of the most heavily chemically treated foods in the world. Growers use synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides in order to increase production with less manpower. These chemicals are harmful to the workers who handle them and to surrounding communities who are subjected to them through air or water.&nbsp;
Farmers grow organic coffee without chemicals. You know that by drinking an organic cup of joe, you&rsquo;re not inadvertently contributing to the poisoning of a village&rsquo;s water supply. Organic practices include feeding the soil with natural products, like compost, and often help the entire ecosystem of a farm become more healthy and viable.&nbsp;
<h1 style="text-align: left;">You Can Do Something About the Global Coffee Crisis </h1>


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By drinking Fair Trade and Organic coffee, you can have a positive impact on the coffee industry. Fair Trade and organic coffee are more expensive and that is a good thing. If you value the lives and livelihoods of the people&nbsp;who grow and produce your coffee, then you should want them to get paid what their coffee is worth,&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; not less.&nbsp;
Unfortunately, our society has come to value cheapness and convenience more than quality, and this has detrimental effects on the world at large. 
As conscious consumers, we should be happy to switch our thinking from &lsquo;cheaper is better,&rsquo; to &lsquo;I am happy to pay a higher price for products that are good for the earth and people.&rsquo;
Ready to buy some awesome, Fair Trade and organic coffee? Double your impact by purchasing your next batch of Fair Trade and organic coffee from a Donor360 fundraiser. Thirty to fifty percent of your sale will go directly to a charity, instead of big business. See some of our live fundraisers <a href="https://www.donorthreesixty.com/campaigns">here</a>.&nbsp;

Coffee is one of the most in-demand commodities on the planet, but many coffee farmers struggle just to feed their families. Find out how drinking Fair Trade and organic coffee can help with the global coffee crisis. 


Why Drinking Fair Trade and Organic Coffee Matters

why-drinking-fair-trade-and-organic-coffee-matters

Fundraising on Donor360 is not only fun and free, but it&rsquo;s also incredibly easy! In this blog, we&rsquo;ll go over how to start your first campaign, so you can quickly start raising funds for your non-profit or for a charity you support!
To get started you&rsquo;ll first need an account. If you don&rsquo;t have a Donor360 account yet, sign up <a href="https://www.donorthreesixty.com/signup" title="Signup for Donor360">here</a>.
Once you&rsquo;ve logged into your Donor360 account, you&rsquo;re ready to start your first fundraising campaign. From your Donor360 dashboard, click &lsquo;Start New Campaign.&rsquo; This will bring you to our beautiful campaign builder. As you begin to populate the entry forms, you&rsquo;ll begin to see your campaign page preview take form on the right side of the screen. Use the arrow in the upper middle part of the screen to toggle back and forth between mobile and desktop views. Then, follow the steps below to create your first campaign!
<h3>1. Enter the Charity You Want to Support</h3>
From the dropdown list, you&rsquo;ll select which charity you want to support. Their name, EIN, and address will populate as you begin to type. If you don&rsquo;t see the charity you want to support, try using the exact name they use for their tax returns. You can use <a href="https://www.guidestar.org/search" title="Charity Search">GuideStar&rsquo;s</a> free search to help you find their exact name. If you still can&rsquo;t find the charity you want to support on our database, they may not be recognized as a 503(1)(C) tax-exempt entity yet. Email us at <a href="mailto:sydney@donorthreesixty.com" title="Write to Sydney">sydney@donorthreesixty.com</a> for more information.
<h3>2. Craft Creative Campaign Details</h3>
Next, enter a creative campaign name. We recommend using something that has to do with what you&rsquo;re raising money for, a seasonal or holiday focus, or just something simple and fun.
Examples are:
<ul>
<li>New Year Pick-Me-Up for a campaign featuring coffee</li>
<li>An Even Sweeter Valentine&rsquo;s Day for a seasonal campaign featuring chocolates and teddy bears</li>
<li>St. Mary School&rsquo;s Scholarship Fundraiser for a campaign benefiting a school&rsquo;s scholarship fund</li>
</ul>
Below, pick a URL for your campaign - something that is easy to say and remember so people can find your campaign directly. We recommend using the name of your fundraiser. Enter your fundraiser goal, start date, and end date. Finally, write a paragraph or two about the organization you&rsquo;re raising money for, why people should support them, and something fun about this fundraiser in particular. Click next when you&rsquo;re done.
<h3>3. Add Photos and Media</h3>
Next, you&rsquo;ll come to the media section of your campaign. Here, you can choose photos to add to your campaign page. We recommend using high-quality images that showcase what you are raising money for or something that has to do with the theme of your fundraiser. You can select up to five images. You can also enter a video here by entering an embed code from a video hosting source.
<h3>4. Pick the Products</h3>
One of the most exciting parts of building a fundraising campaign with Donor360 is choosing which products you&rsquo;d like to sell. Our catalog is full of amazing USDA certified organic and Fair Trade products that are good for the earth and people! You can pick up to six products to vend for each fundraiser. We recommend picking products that have to do with your theme, such as chocolates and teddy bears for a Valentine&rsquo;s Day fundraiser.
<h3>5. Submit Your Campaign for Review</h3>
After you&rsquo;ve filled out all of your campaign details and picked your products, go over the campaign preview to make sure everything looks correct. When you&rsquo;re satisfied with your campaign, click &lsquo;Submit Details.&rsquo; Our campaign specialists will review your campaign for authenticity and will approve it within 24 hours.
<h3>6. Share It and Watch the Funds Come In</h3>
Once your campaign is approved, you&rsquo;ll be able to share the page link on your social media pages, in newsletters, and on your website. From your Donor360 dashboard, you&rsquo;ll be able to see details about your campaign, like how much you&rsquo;ve raised and who has donated. Happy fundraising! Need more help? Get in touch with one of our campaign specialists at <a href="mailto:sydney@donorthreesixty.com" title="Write to Sydney">sydney@donorthreesixty.com</a>.

Fundraising on Donor360 is not only fun and free, but it’s also incredibly easy! In this blog, we’ll go over how to start your first campaign. 

5 Easy Steps to Start a Fundraising Campaign

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Chocolate is one of the great loves of humanity, but few people know or think about the harm it can cause to farmers, communities, and consumers. Like many consumer products on this planet, when produced in bulk, low-costs become the highest value, while quality and safety fall by the wayside.&nbsp;
At Donor360, we want to ensure that any chocolate you buy or vend is good for people and the earth. This is why we only partner with organic and Fair Trade chocolate companies, like Alter Eco, Olive and Sinclair, and TCHO.&nbsp;
In order to ensure that your chocolate is safe and ethical, it&rsquo;s crucial to buy and vend high-quality organic and Fair Trade chocolate. Here&rsquo;s why:&nbsp;
<h2 style="text-align: left;">1. Organically Grown Cacao is Good for the Earth&nbsp;</h2>
Cacao is the plant that chocolate is produced from. Like many crops, it&rsquo;s susceptible to pests and diseases. In many places that produce cacao, in what&rsquo;s known as the cacao belt (within 30 degrees of the equator), restrictions on pesticides and chemicals used on crops are much less regulated than in the United States. These synthetic pesticides and herbicides can have harmful effects on the environment around them because they kill species that are necessary to maintain a natural and healthy eco-system.&nbsp;
Organic chocolate is grown without the use of chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. Instead, organic pest deterrents are used, along with biodynamic fertilizers. This helps the land that the cacao is grown on stay healthy and natural and preserves its eco-system.&nbsp;
<h2 style="text-align: left;">2. Organic Chocolate is Better for You</h2>
Organically produced and made chocolate is grown without the use of dangerous herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizer and contains only organic ingredients. Many big-name chocolate and candy companies use wax, high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors and coloring, and GMO ingredients in their products. All of these additives have been linked to health concerns.&nbsp;
When you buy organic chocolate, such as Alter Eco from Donor360&rsquo;s marketplace, you know that your chocolate was grown without contaminants such as herbicides and pesticides. You also know they contain only organic and NON-GMO ingredients. This means you&rsquo;ll be eating a much purer and healthier product.&nbsp;
<h2 style="text-align: left;">3. Organic Chocolate is Healthier for Farmers</h2>
Not only is organic chocolate better for your health, but it&rsquo;s also better for farmers and their communities. Farmers on non-organic farms have to work amongst harmful chemicals, which are linked to serious health complications. As many cacao farms are located in developing countries, they are less likely to have safety measures, such as productive gear, to ensure the health and wellness of their workers.&nbsp;
Farmers on organic farms work with natural products that are not harmful for their health. Buying organic chocolate helps to keep farmers and workers abroad safe.&nbsp;
<h2 style="text-align: left;">4. Fair Trade Chocolate Means Workers Earn a Living Wage</h2>
Traditionally-grown and produced chocolate bars may be grown by child-laborers. According to <a href="https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ILAB/ListofGoods.pdf">a report by the U.S. Department of Labor</a>, 2 million children work in the cacao sector in West Africa alone. Even if child labor is not used, many cacao farmers and laborers will not earn a fair living wage from their work. Companies that place the importance of a cheap final product over quality and integrity don&rsquo;t pay cacao farmers what their product is worth.&nbsp;
Fair Trade chocolate companies, such as TCHO, source their cacao fairly, make sure that everyone on their supply chain is earning a fair, steady living wage and that no child or slave labor is used.&nbsp;
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Shop Donor360&rsquo;s Marketplace for Organic and Fair Trade Products</h2>
Two of Donor360&rsquo;s values are environmental stewardship and fair wages and trade. This means that all of the products in Donor360&rsquo;s catalog are USDA organic or Fair Trade certified. We want to make sure that the chocolates that you are buying or vending for fundraisers are good for people and good for the earth. You can feel good knowing that the chocolate that you&rsquo;re vending to raise money for your kids&rsquo; school is sourced without the use of child labor!
To learn more about our chocolate partners, TCHO, Olive and Sinclair, and Alter Eco, visit our catalog. Ready to start fundraising with Donor360 and vend amazing, organic and Fair Trade chocolate? Sign up here!

In order to ensure that your chocolate is safe and ethical, it’s crucial to buy and vend high-quality organic and Fair Trade chocolate. 

Why We Love Organic & Fair Trade Chocolate Brands

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This year has been challenging for us all, and as we begin this new school year parents, teachers, and schools are faced with new obstacles daily. Parents are working full time while helping their kids with online schooling, teachers and kids are adjusting to their online classrooms, and administrators are charged with ensuring the school year runs smoothly amidst a global pandemic.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Alongside this, PTAs are facing pressures of their own. Across the nation, schools depend on the fundraising arm of their PTAs to supplement school resources and meet the needs of all students. Fundraising during this pandemic has been limited and challenging, as PTAs are unable to conduct events and gather as a group to raise funds like before. This has left many wondering: How do PTAs and PTOs raise money safely during Covid-19?&nbsp;
<h2 style="text-align: left;">How to Raise Money For Your PTA Safely During Covid-19</h2>
Faced with these new challenges, PTAs are being asked to be adaptable with their approaches and adopt new, innovative ways to fundraise. PTAs and PTOs can level up their fundraising abilities by utilizing online technology and harnessing the power of the Internet. This will enable them to build an online donor base and fundraise for their PTA/PTO safely during Covid-19.
In the past, many PTAs have relied on door-to-door fundraising, vending candy and wrapping paper, and auctions and events to raise money.&nbsp; The goal this year is to raise money safely in a socially distant manner and yet still unite as a community.&nbsp;&nbsp;
By moving to an online fundraising platform, your PTA/PTO can keep in communication with your supporters, raise money without putting anyone&rsquo;s health at risk, and begin to build an online donor base. However, most online platforms are not designed to support PTA/PTOs in particular.&nbsp;
Donor360 recognizes the difficulties that PTAs and PTOs are up against this year and have specifically implemented features to meet their needs.&nbsp;
<h2 style="text-align: left;">The Advantages of Fundraising with Donor360</h2>
Donor360 is a turnkey eCommerce FUNdraising platform for PTAs and charities. With Donor360, PTAs and charities can easily start eCommerce fundraising campaigns by vending USDA organic and Fair Trade certified chocolates, coffee, and more. We have ensured that our platform recognizes all&nbsp; PTA/PTOs with 501(c)(3) tax exemption so that you can raise money for your organization seamlessly.&nbsp;
Utilizing all the advantages of Donor360 can help your organization meet and even succeed your fundraising goals. With Donor360, you can:
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Start online fundraising campaigns with a few clicks - Our platform makes it easy and quick to start a fundraiser. Our design features allow you to see how your campaign page will look in real-time and helps you create eye-catching pages optimized to increase giving amounts.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Inspire your community and supporters to start campaigns of their own - Anyone can start a fundraiser that benefits your organization with Donor360. Having your network raise funds for you can help boost your revenue with no extra work on your end.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Sell amazing USDA organic, fair trade products - Donor360&rsquo;s product catalog includes coffee, chocolates, plush toys, hand-crafted gifts, and more. When you vend these products, you&rsquo;re also supporting sustainable brands that provide fair living wage jobs and are good for the environment.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Be social distance savvy with direct-to-supporter contactless delivery options - We give you shipping options that work best for your organization. You can opt to send all items from a particular fundraiser to your school or PTA office or you can select contactless delivery to each individual supporter. &nbsp;</li>
<li>Earn 30% to 50% of the sales - Many of the vendors that PTA/PTOs often work with offer 5-10% of profits. With Donor360, you can earn up to 50% of the profits from your sales, helping you raise more than ever before.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Easily collect additional donations during checkout - Our campaign pages include an option for supporters to add cash donations to their purchase. One hundred percent of this amount will go directly to your organization.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Start building a Donorbase to retarget for additional purchases and donations - With Donor360, you can collect user-approved data, in order to easily contact donors in the future about new fundraisers and to ask for further donations.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
In addition to all of this, your supporters will automatically receive an IRS Tax donation receipt with every purchase!
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Get the Help and Support You Need</h2>
Interested in leveraging the power of Donor360 for your fundraising efforts this year? Sign up here or reach out to our support team with any questions at <a href="mailto:info@donorthreesixty.com">i</a>CustomerService@DonorThreeSixty.com . We are passionate about helping PTAs and PTOs get the funds they need this year.&nbsp;

By moving to an online fundraising platform, your PTA/PTO can keep in communication with your supporters, raise money without putting anyone’s health at risk, and begin to build an online donor base. 

Donor Three Sixty Blog

Why Drinking Fair Trade and Organic Coffee Matters

5 Easy Steps to Start a Fundraising Campaign

Why We Love Organic & Fair Trade Chocolate Brands

How do PTAs & PTOs raise money safely during COVID19?