LivingSocial Breaks Out of the Gift Box without Breaking the Bank

WASHINGTON, Dec. 13, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Tis the season to give travel adventures, tanning packages, relaxing spa treatments, unique cuisine, cooking classes and so much more with LivingSocial's second annual 12 Days of Giving. In the spirit of giving, LivingSocial will donate one percent of every Daily Deal purchased to DonorsChoose.org and GlobalGiving. Today through December 24, savvy holiday shoppers worldwide can contribute to both worthy causes, while gifting unique, exciting experiences – at a fraction of the regular price – through the social shopping site's holiday gift buying program.

"We're excited to partner with DonorsChoose.org for 12 Days of Giving. Just like our mission is to help connect exciting local merchants with new and loyal customers, DonorsChoose.org links donors with classroom projects in local communities," said Tim O'Shaughnessy, CEO and co-founder of LivingSocial. "So, if you're in Atlanta, proceeds from your purchase of a LivingSocial Deal go towards funding a project in a local Atlanta classroom. This is a fantastic way for us to share some holiday cheer while giving back and supporting local grassroots charity efforts."

In keeping with LivingSocial's targeted regional efforts, the company has partnered with two charity organizations dedicated to grassroots giving. DonorsChoose.org – which was recently named an Oprah's Favorite Thing – empowers people to improve public education by donating supplies like microscopes, updated maps or standard school supplies like paper and pencils directly to classrooms in need. When a U.S.-based user buys a LivingSocial Deal, one percent of their purchase price will be donated to a classroom in their area. For those busy shoppers in Canada, UK and Australia, LivingSocial is working with GlobalGiving, an organization that connects people with local causes and projects. With GlobalGiving, shoppers can specifically design what their donation will fund like $15 towards a clown doctor's visit to two children in the UK or $25 towards feeding two rehabilitating koalas in Australia. During 12 Days of Giving, LivingSocial will donate to a variety of GlobalGiving projects based on the total proceeds from Daily Deals sold.

"By engaging local customers and merchants in every market across the country, LivingSocial continues to help us bring holiday cheer to even more classrooms in need," said Elaine Perez, East regional director for DonorsChoose.org.  "As the 12 Days of Giving program grows – from five markets last year to now more than 120 markets in the US, UK, Australia and Ireland – we are able to generate more awareness for students and teachers nationwide at this crucial fundraising time of the year."

LivingSocial currently offers more than 10 million shoppers around the globe one-of-a-kind experiences at a significant cost savings of 50% to 70% and 12 Days of Giving will be similar. Each day, a new gift idea will appear in a user's email inbox or as an alert on their mobile phone. Live for 24 hours, the Daily Deal will be available to anyone who clicks on it. Thanks to LivingSocial's unique referral model, every time a user refers three friends who also participate, they will get the Deal for free.  

LivingSocial's 12 Days of Giving program will be available in all its more than 120 markets in five countries. Sample deals include:

• For New York sweet tooths: $30 worth of sweet treats including a dozen gourmet cupcakes in any flavor from Buttercup Bake Shop
• For Atlanta fashionistas: $75 for $150 worth of stylish merchandise from Swank
• For Las Vegas culinary connoisseurs: $32 for a healthy cooking class from Senses! Cooking
• For Washington, DC wellness gurus: $25 for one month of unlimited yoga classes from The Buddha B Yoga Studio
• For Bay Area sightseers: $99 intro to flying lesson for one, including a guest pass for a friend to join for the ride from Oakland Fliers

For a full list of markets where LivingSocial is live or to sign up to receive Daily Deals, please visit http://www.livingsocial.com.

About LivingSocial

LivingSocial adds surprise to every calendar with handpicked Daily Deals you can share with friends.  Members enjoy at least 50% off on the coolest, local experiences. Local business owners get an easy and cost effective marketing tool to attract new, loyal customers. In 2010 one of the fastest growing companies in the space expanded with LivingSocial Escapes offering a "vacation in a box" for easy weekend trips at great value.  Based in Washington, DC, the international brand and has saved its more than 10 million subscribers more than $171M in 120+ markets.

Sign up for Daily Deals in your market for free or find out more information about LivingSocial at www.livingsocial.com. Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/livingsocial

About DonorsChoose.org

Founded in 2000 by a social studies teacher in the Bronx, DonorsChoose.org is a nonprofit website where public school teachers describe specific educational projects for their students, and donors can choose the projects they want to support. After completing a project, the donor hears back from the classroom they supported in the form of photographs and student thank-you letters. Requests range from pencils for a poetry writing unit, to violins for a school recital, to microscope slides for a biology class. In the past ten years of operation, residents of 50 states and 10 countries have funded 160,751 student projects, channeling more than $65 million in resources to over 4 million students.

About GlobalGiving

GlobalGiving (www.globalgiving.org) enables individuals and organizations to find and direct funds to high-impact, grassroots projects. By aggregating many donors, GlobalGiving is creating a new source of funding for people with innovative solutions to challenging world issues. Corporate partners include Pepsi, Discovery Communications, Gap, Inc., Ford Motor Company, and Nike, among others. In addition, major funding partners include Omidyar Network, the Hewlett Foundation, Sall Family Foundation. To date the GlobalGiving community has made over $34 million in contributions to more than 3,400 projects around the world.

SOURCE LivingSocial