NetworkforGood.org and OrganicBouquet.com Launch FlowersforGood.com
Online Florist Devoted to Green Practices, Good Causes on Valentine's Day and Beyond
San Francisco (January 30, 2006) - NetworkforGood.org, the charitable giving Web site founded by AOL, Yahoo! and Cisco Systems, and OrganicBouquet.com, the internet's first organic florist, announced Monday the launch of www.FlowersforGood.com, the first-ever online florist exclusively offering flowers cultivated to protect to the environment and sold to help a range of good causes.
On the site, launched for Valentine's Day, consumers can select from hundreds of arrangements, all grown with environmentally friendly practices, and choose from 10 different charities to benefit from the purchase. Depending on purchase price, Organic Bouquet will donate $5 or $10 for each bouquet to the charities - all of which have been screened by Network for Good and CharityNavigator.org. The charities include the American Red Cross, Heart to Heart International, the Environmental Defense Fund, and Mercy Corps.
"FlowersforGood.com is a great way to give from the heart on February 14 and all year long - it's not only a Valentine to someone you love but also a gift to the environment and the charity you choose," said Bill Strathmann, CEO of Network for Good."
Valentine's Day is the single largest day of the year for flower sales and bridges three intersecting trends:
- Online Flower Sales: In 2004, $950 million of flowers were sold online (Aggregated sales figures based on publicly available sales data)
- Online Giving: Online giving to charities has grown exponentially from $192 million in 1999 to $3 billion in 2004 (Craver, Matthews Smith and Co and Kintera)
- Organics: Organic floral is the newest category in the $228.9 billion LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) market, in which there are reportedly 63 million Americans who make environmentally based purchasing decisions (www.lohas.com)
Organic flower production encourages healthy stewardship of the land and eliminates the use of toxic chemicals which can negatively impact the environment.
"Organic flowers are a perfect example of how a gift of love can keep on giving - for the environment, for the community and for the people closest to our hearts," said Gerald Prolman CEO of Organic Bouquet.
Network for Good has processed $86.4 million in donations for more than 20,000 charities since it was established in November 2001. In 2005 alone, Network for Good processed $32 million in donations from 236,000 donors.
The U.S. organic market is estimated to grow to more than $30 billion by 2007. U.S. sales of organic flowers in 2003 grew 52 percent to $8 million. Sales are expected to grow 13 percent annually through 2008 (Organic Trade Association).
Organic Bouquet: Established in 2001, Organic Bouquet (www.organicbouquet.com) has pioneered the organic flower market. As a leading voice in the organic movement, it is raising public awareness of critical environmental issues, using sustainably grown flowers as a catalyst for change.
Network for Good: Network for Good (www.networkforgood.org) is an online charitable resource where people can give to more than 1 million charities and search from more than 34,000 volunteer opportunities in one place. The organization's mission is to connect people to all of the charities they want to support via the Internet - using the virtual world to deliver real resources to nonprofits and communities.
Founded in 2001 by the Time Warner Foundation and AOL, Inc.; the Cisco Foundation and Cisco Systems, Inc.; and Yahoo! Inc., Network for Good is an independent, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Bethesda, MD.
Media Contacts:
Organic Bouquet Inc.
Michael Straus
Office (415) 777-1170 x 302; Cell (415) 519-8343
Michael@StrausCom.com
Network for Good
Katya Andresen
VP, Marketing
Office (240) 482-3208; Cell (202) 577-1932
katya.andresen@networkforgood.org
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