Shoppers urged to purchase for a cause

Luxury fashion retailer Club 21 and MasterCard are inviting shoppers to spend with purpose through a ‘Purchase with Purpose’ program.

Between August 1 and September 30, MasterCard will contribute US$10 per transaction completed with a MasterCard card at selected Club 21 stores in Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand or Singapore, and via Club 21’s online store: http://eshop.club21global.com.

In 2012, MasterCard donated over US$25,000 to seven charities in the participating countries. The donation helped almost 4000 women through programs such as computer literacy and training courses for rural women and farmers in Thailand and Indonesia, professional skills training and development for underserved women in Singapore and Hong Kong, and certification courses for aboriginal women in Taiwan, abused women in Malaysia and young refugee women in Australia.

In Singapore, ‘Beautiful People’, part of ‘Beyond Social Services’, received support to work with 39 at-risk girls from welfare homes to improve their future employability through financial literacy, resume writing and interview skills. The girls were also encouraged to envision career paths for themselves by meeting invited professionals from industries including public relations, media, hospitality, healthcare and retail.

This year, the organisations that will benefit from this programme are The Social Studio (Australia), Hong Kong Women Development Association, Yayasan Mitra Mandiri Indonesia, Shelter Home (Malaysia), Zhi-Shan Foundation Taiwan, Yuvabadhana Foundation(Thailand) and Beautiful People (Singapore). Programmes supported include scholarships and funding for vocational studies and training, certification courses, computer and design training and workshops, mentoring and career guidance for women and girls-at-risk.

“This partnership between Club 21 and MasterCard is part of ‘Club 21 Cares’, a platform of community involvement for employees, customers, and partners of Club 21. The ‘Purchase with Purpose’ program provides an avenue for our customers to help make a meaningful difference,” said Club 21 marketing director Linda Locke.

MasterCard research found out that 62.9 per cent of APAC consumers are willing to pay more for goods if a percentage of the sale is donated to a good cause.

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