Make a difference today. Make a difference tomorrow. Make a difference now.

I think it goes without saying that many of us take for granted what Non-Profit organizations do for us, our kids and our community.  It is commonplace for non-profits to work behind the scenes, quietly providing help and care to hundreds, thousands, sometimes millions of people.  Not for accolades or recognition but based on the principle of humanity and to lessen the suffering of others.

At SoRewarding.com we have 15 non-profit partners.  We believe that each one of these profits offers positivity, happiness and immeasurable value to our communities.  You can learn about our non-profit partners by visiting each of their pages.  For example, the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado page can be found here:  http://www.sorewarding.com/page/big-brothers.

Non-profit pages make it easy to find a mission statement or get information like website or phone number, but the BEST part is that you can DONATE directly to your favorite organization through their page on SoRewarding.com!  Look at the picture below that shows the Mile High Leaps andBounds non-profit page, you’ll notice a ‘Donate’ button.

You can log-in to SoRewarding.com and make a donation to any of your favorite non-profit organization with the click of a button!  We like to think this will help raise awareness and increase donations made to these wonderful organizations and people who make so many things possible for the less fortunate.  Visit SoRewarding.com … save money, connect with your community and make a difference today.

Icons and browsing SoRewarding.com

There are many features on SoRewarding that we have implemented in the hopes of improving the functionality of our site and making your experience as enjoyable as possible.  One feature to keep in mind is the different icons on our merchant pages.  Our icon’s work as an easy visual reminder of what each page has to offer to our users.  When you’re using the search bar to find your favorite merchant or a non-profit and stumble across a few icons you don’t recognize, simply hover over them to get a quick description.

Here’s a quick run-down and description of our most popular Merchant Page icons:

• The icon above is simple.  If you see this icon on a page it means this is a merchant page that has NOT yet been claimed by the owner but has been added by a member of the SoRewarding community

• The icon above signifies that this merchant is a Registered Merchant of SoRewarding.  In other words, the owner of the business is in control of this page and may respond to your reviews, questions and compliments.  So be nice!

• The icon above is the holy grail of our merchant icons.  If a merchant page has this icon it means that they have enabled their consumer driven deals.  That means, SEND DEAL REQUESTS!  No, really, you can create a deal with any merchant that has this icon.  You can customize your deal how you want it, even including the percentage off!

How to Send Deal Requests and Create a Deal with a merchant:

• After finding a merchant page by using the search bar on the homepage, create a deal with them right then!  All you do is click on the ‘Create a Deal!’ link (shown above) and fill out a few fields and presto, you’re done!

Merchants: Publish your own deals on the SoRewarding homepage!

Are you a business owner? Do you want to publish your own deals on the SoRewarding homepage, but don’t want to wait for someone to send a deal request to you? 
SoRewarding is not only the home of Consumer Driven Deals, we're also one of the only places that's automated the process for merchants to publish their own deals. Getting started is easy, just follow these simple instructions:

• In order to publish your own deals on the SoRewarding homepage, you must have a SoRewarding profile and a page for your business. Next, you must enable your Consumer Driven Deals feature, which will allow you to receive deal requests from consumers and publish your own deals.
  Click the links to learn how to do each.
• After you’ve logged in, make sure you’re using SoRewarding as your business. Click Menu and then click the Dashboard button.
• Once you’re on the Dashboard for your business, click “Publish a Deal.” This will open up a calendar for you to select the day you’d like your deal to publish on.

• After you’ve selected the day you want your deal to run on the SoRewarding homepage, the rest of the “Publish a Deal” form will open up. Your default deal settings will automatically populate. 

• Just fill in the fields with the details of the deal you want to publish and then click “Add the Deal.” You’re done! Your deal will publish on the date you selected. You can even enter your customers' email addresses and share this deal with them!

Merchants: How to Enable the Consumer Driven Deals feature for your business

The first step to driving new and existing customers to your business is enabling your Consumer Driven Deals! 

Getting started is easy, just follow these instructions:

• Before you can enable your Consumer Driven Deals, you must have a merchant page for your business. If you haven't done so already, click here to learn how.
• After you’ve been verified as the owner/authorized manager of your business, you can enable your Consumer Driven Deals feature. First, make sure you’re using SoRewarding as your business. After logging in, click Menu and underneath Use SoRewarding as:, select your business page. 

• Now that you're using SoRewarding as your business, click Menu again and then click Dashboard. Next, click the Enable Consumer Driven Deals button.
• There are 2 parts to enabling your Consumer Driven Deals. 
• First, you must agree to the Terms and Conditions. Just check the box saying “I agree…”
• Second, you'll set up your default deal settings. Each time you accept or publish a deal, this information will appear on the page for your deal. You'll have the opportunity to change/edit this info each time, but to save time, this is the info that will automatically populate every time.

If you're confused about something when filling out your default deal settings, just hover your cursor over the question mark icons. A tip will appear that will tell you what to enter in that field.

After agreeing to the Terms & Conditions and entering your default deal settings, click "Save" and you're ready to go! You'll receive an email alert when you get a deal request with instructions on how to respond. You'll only have about 24 hours to respond, so once you get that email alert, you should respond sooner rather than later.

If you accept or counter-offer a deal request, here's an example of what your deal page will look like. The area circled in purple is where your highlights will appear, the area circled in green is where your fine print will appear, and the area circled in blue is where your ad copy will appear. The pictures you add (up to 4) will cycle every 5 seconds.

You can also publish your own deals on the SoRewarding homepage after you've enabled your Consumer Driven Deals! To learn how to do this, click here.

How to get your business on SoRewarding

Setting up a merchant page for your business on SoRewarding is easy! Just follow the simple instructions below. Click on the pictures for a closer look.

• First, you’ll need to create a personal profile. From your personal profile, you can add pages for businesses and/or non-profits.  You’ll manage your pages from your personal profile.

• After creating a profile, log in and click "Menu" in the top right corner. Then click “Add a Page” from the dropdown menu.

• Select “Merchant.”

• Fill out the form with information about your business.  Under “Relationship to Business,” if you select I’m the owner of this business or I’m a/the manager at this business, a “page claim” will be sent to SoRewarding. A SoRewarding representative will follow up with you to verify your identity as owner/manager of the business. This is a measure taken to prevent people misrepresenting your business and running fraudulent deals under your business name. After verification, you’ll be able to enable your Consumer Driven Deals feature and start receiving deal requests/publishing your own deals!

• While waiting for verification, you can view and edit your merchant page. To edit or add info to your page, simply click the “Edit Page” button and then click the info you want to edit.

As soon as you've been verified, you can enable your Consumer Driven Deals! Then, you can start receiving deal requests from customers or publish your own deals on the SoRewarding homepage. 

To learn how to enable your Consumer Driven Deals, click here.

Thank You!

Hi Friends,

Hopefully at least a few of you caught us on the local news in Denver.  We were on CBS channel 4 last week, which as you know (if you live in Denver) is the equivalent to being nominated for and winning an Oscar on Primetime television!

We are extremely flattered to be recognized by CBS4 and Denver as a company they deemed worthy to have a spot on the nightly news.  This only reinforces our commitment and dedication to connecting our communities and rewarding our users.  We didn’t get here without any help; we couldn’t possibly show enough appreciation to the city of Denver, our blog readers, Facebook fans, Twitter followers, SoRewarding users and YOU!  All the thanks in the world, you guys are truly great and we couldn’t have done it without your support.

We’re overjoyed with the reception we have received thus far and our optimistic about the future!  If you didn’t catch the piece on CBS4, you can find it here:  http://denver.cbslocal.com/2012/05/18/new-website-allows-customers-to-create-own-savings/#.T7qngXnX-jQ.twitter

Until next time… SoRewarding, out!

The RewardingCrew

Hey guys!  I want to share some news with everyone about an exciting new development at SoRewarding.  (Drum Roll) ….

It’s the RewardingCrew!  So, what is the RewardingCrew you ask?  It’s simple, instead of having a hangover and a ludicrous credit card receipt the morning after a night of partying.  You’ll now still have a hangover BUT also a sense of self-satisfaction by knowing that you and your friends Partied For a Purpose!

What purpose, you ask?  Well, at each of our RewardingCrew parties we select one of our non-profit partners to be the star of the evening.  As the party goes on till the wee hours of the morning, and some of us take the early cab home, this Non-Profit will receive donations from patrons and proceeds from the purchases made that night! 

All the usual suspects will be there, booze, socializing, lost phones, laughs, tears, joy, BUT in addition to these things we Party for a Purpose.  Finally, it is our turn to reward these people who do so much to positively change and impact the world!  Now that we’ve whet your palate and you’re eagerly waiting to find out the location of our next RewardingCrew party…  

Stay tuned for more… COMING SOON!