We’re done with saving daylight, and the extra hour of sleep lends
to my cheerful disposition this morning. The only difficulty I’m having is deciding which one of these makes me the happiest: (a) the up to 75% off sale at Kate Spade online or (b) this new website called Common Kindness, which saves you money and supports your favorite charitable causes. Well the generosity of this day seems unlimited and I don’t have to choose.
If I purchase anything from Kate Spade online or any of the other many retailers found on Common Kindness, I can select one or more of the 1 million charities featured on Common Kindness or my charities of choice to receive a percentage of my purchase (on average 2.5-4%). Common Kindness shares 60% of its profits or 20% of revenue (whichever is greater) with the charitable causes you choose.
Calandra Cruickshank who is the President of Common Kindness explained to me and I agree that the concept is so simple – just by clicking through the coupons or promotional links on their website “you save money on what you were going to buy anyway... and raise money [for your causes].” You can create an account profile and add your children’s school, local community organizations, or other non-profits that are important to you. Such organizations can have its own micro-website through Common Kindness with functionality to rally supporters and launch fundraising efforts.
Could it be any easier to support your designer urges and your favorite worthy causes at the same time? Well then, let’s get started saving and raising money!
Go to commonkindness.com, select YOU SAVE and the Online Discounts link. You can search through “Deal Categories” of products from apparel and beauty & cosmetics to electronics and books & magazines. Once within a category (I’ve chosen “Apparel –Women”) you can select popular brands like Kate Spade, Banana Republic, Gap, and Bloomingdales (scroll down to bottom of page). Anytime you click through the featured deal links or coupons and make a purchase at the end merchant website, you save and your charities gain – it’s a win-win!
Here are a few of my picks from the Kate Spade online sale. The fringed, nappa leather Yuma Ida handbag is the epitome of boho chic (was $395, now US$237, available in deep turquoise or chocolate, above). Then add a playful accessory like this Tuileries ring to elevate you to your happy place (was $95, now US$67, available in pink or blue, above/left). 
If your accessory these days is a new baby, this Union Square Baby Stevie diaper bag (was $425, now $318, available in pink, black or blue and comes with changing pad) won’t let diapers put a damper on your style.
Whatever you choose, by starting your savings through Common Kindness, you will undoubtedly raise your style to an uncommonly smart level.
It is perhaps a universal truth that by giving, one receives infinitely more in return. I am inspired by Cami Walker's book 29 Gifts, which was an uncommon prescription for Cami's diagnosis with Multiple Sclerosis from an African medicine woman named Mbali Creazzo: Give away 29 gifts in 29 days. “By giving,” Mbali told Cami, “you are focusing on what you have to offer others, inviting more abundance into your life.” Cami is inspiring a global movement of generosity and challenging us to giving, whether it be in-kind gifts of money, food or services or simply of ourselves through a compliment, a smile or kind words. You can join this movement at http://www.29gifts.org/.
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