One of the great things about what I do (Web Design and Web Development – just in case you haven’t noticed) is that I get to work with a bunch of local companies (I also get to work with a bunch of not so local companies – both that’s a topic for a different post).

One of the local companies that I have been working with quite a bit lately is ServeNation.  Located in Fort Wayne, IN, ServeNation works nationally with non-profits to create a win-win-win fund raising solution.  They set up custom gift card stores for non-profits.  ServeNation is able to purchase the gift cards at a discounted rate from the vendors and then sell them at face value.  The non-profit and ServeNation are then able to split the profit.

Here’s an example (all the numbers are just made up).  Suppose you as a cusotmer want to buy a $10 Starbucks card.  You could go to Starbucks.com and buy the card from them.  The card would cost you $10 and you would get $10 of value from it.

However, suppose you go to ServeNation instead.  The card would still cost you $10 and you would still get $10 of value from it.  But, ServeNation, may have been able to buy that card for $9.50 from Starbucks.  So, now ServeNation and the non-profit you choose get to split the difference!  You win – you get your card and the same value.  Your non-profit wins in that it raises funds without any work.  And, ServeNation wins by making a profit.  Everyone wins.

I think it’s a great plan and it has been my privelage to work along side of them.

Some of the updates we’ve been working on lately:

• Look and Feel update – we worked with a graphic designer to come up with an updated look – it’s not completely done, but it’s close
• Updates and enhancements to the back end admin section – all kinds of changes
• Fixes and better performance for the main e-commerce section

The site is www.servenation.com.  Check it out and let me know your thoughts.