Social enterprise is the broadening of the purpose of a private enterprise to include supporting the interests of its local and/or global community. It really means going beyond a purely private profit motivation in the way we do business. It has grown steadily in the US and private companies have been eager to forge social enterprise relationships or evolve their own models in order to reap the rewards associated with social responsibility in today’s marketplace. The next step is to really light a match under the explosive power of consumer spending and allow consumers to make knowledgeable and responsible decision about how they spend. We at Ethix like to imagine a world where a tiny fraction of every dollar swiped finds it way into health, education, sustainability and all manner of public interests. And remember, when you are out and about spending money, think about how and where you do that. It makes all the difference in the world!
If You Could Give To Charity……?
If you could give to charity, where would you send your generous donation? What if you could help that charitable organization raise money just by spreading the word in you daily conversations? What if all of this could be done without costing you or the other donors any money out-of-pocket?
Ethix Merchant Services makes this possible to anyone that processes credit cards for their business. We donate 25% of the revenue we make from each merchant account to your choice of charitable organizations. Even if you don’t own a business yourself, you can help spread the word and our community outreach materials to raise funds for your cause. Once businesses know that this is something they can do to help their communities, they will make an easy switch of credit card processors joining the socially responsible movement and feel great knowing a check will be sent monthly to their cause in their behalf.
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” ― Maya Angelou
Ethix for Schools
Education is part of our core mission here at Ethix and raising money for schools is a Community Partnership program that we are very excited about.
Most schools are already raising money from parents or their local community to save academic, athletic, artistic and after school programs that not covered by the ever declining education budgets. Ethix is a powerful new tool in your efforts to give your kids a well rounded and comprehensive education that will help them imagine the future that they deserve.
We work with PTA and other school groups to assist you in introducing Ethix to business owners, be they parents or merchants in your local community. We handle all aspects of the conversion of these businesses to the Ethix Program and start sending your group the 25% donation monthly. That is cash, residual income that you can rely on and put to work supporting your kids and your community.
Read more about the Ethix Community Partnership and drop us a line if you think this program will work for you.
Ethix Wins SF Bay Area Social Enterprise Alliance Pitch Night
On Tuesday of last week I received an email letting me know that Ethix had been selected to present at the Social Enterprise Alliance Pitch Night in San Francisco. I had been eagerly awaiting the news as it had been some time since I had completed the lengthy application to be included in this event. I was excited and started to think about what I wanted to say about our company.
Social Enterprise Alliance is “An alliance of leaders across sectors advancing social enterprise to benefit communities.” This is very much in our wheel house here at Ethix and I was looking forward to the opportunity to get feedback and insight from this audience. Thursday came around and I headed over the bridge from our Oakland office and into the city. On arriving, I was welcomed by Antonio Aguilera, President of the SEASF Board and Jan Cohen, a veteran social entrepreneur and SEA Board Member who spoke with myself and the other pitchers about how to make an effective presentation on our young companies. We picked numbers to determine the order of our pitches and settled in with a packed house to commence the contest.
I pitched second of five and was inspired by everything I heard that night. It is really amazing to be a part of the Bay Area’s vibrant community of changemakers. At the end of the evening the audience was asked to vote. Ethix and Yellow Leaf Hammocks came out in a dead tie for first place in the first vote. It was very exciting. In the run off vote, Ethix took the day!
This has been such a powerful validation for myself and my amazing team of partners who are working to build this company. We know that we are doing something powerful through re purposing a much maligned model in financial services to make it work for communities but it is really meaningful to share that and have it validated by an organization like Social Enterprise Alliance. I feel very appreciative of the opportunity and pretty psyched about the results.
Getting Technical With Our CTO Brian Thivierge
Brian perfectly fills the position of Chief Technical Officer here at Ethix. His wealth of knowledge, experience, sensibility and compassion for the “dumb” questions keeps us all working with confidence that we are in good hands. Like all of our other team members, Brian is incredibly valuable in his department and all the other areas that we finagle him into. Brian maintains the computers, phones, office equipment, website, forums, live webcasts, newsletters, and even the marketing material and e-tools that many will see or use. He has been called a web guru, marketing genius but most importantly he is “our tech guy.” Thankfully his tech knowledge is paired with his creative ideas that help build and improve our growing company. So, technically speaking we’re not just lucky to have him, we’re thrilled!
Team Building Is Already Successful At Ethix
A few weeks ago we hosted an evening event here at our Oakland office for our new and potential outside sales representatives. We are so happy with the success of this event with a great turnout full of people who really get what we are doing here at Ethix. They came, they ate, they chatted and asked their questions. We really appreciate all of your questions because they help us grow and get better at what we do. We also love to hear success stories that let us all learn from each other. We have so many new forums and webcasts that have really started the connection of our outside sales team. Not only do we want our sales people to feel supported by this community but to also know that Ethix really supports it’s representatives and celebrates their successes on a personal level. We are so proud to have a team of people promoting social business responsibility and community building with us and that also have a passion for this movement.
We really appreciate your feedback so:
How The Ethix Community Partnership Can Work
Ethix is based in the Jack London District of Oakland. As soon as we opened our offices we reached out to the local neighborhood association, The JLDA to see if we could support them in their fundraising for the application to be a Business Improvement District (BID). This is a great example of how our Community Partnership Program works. The JLDA has already spent time and effort building relationships with local merchants and working with them towards the goal of becoming a BID. They have done a great job of building a community of committed residents and business owners who want to see the neighborhood improved. We are developing a relationship with them and have added the Ethix Program to the ways in which they can raise money to support their area. We have started reaching out to local merchants with the JLDA’s advocacy and support and requesting that those merchants designate the JLDA as the recipient of their 25% donations. The association will benefit from a residual income stream to pay for programs that benefit the merchants. The merchants benefit from lower fees and neighborhood improvement that does not cost their business any extra money and the residents benefit from a cleaner, safer and more vibrant local business community. By converting fees that would traditionally disappear onto the balance sheet of large financial institutions into funds for community improvement and development we are strengthening the ties between businesses and the neighborhoods they are in. I think that is pretty cool and I am excited to see this program used all over the country by neighborhood and merchant associations that want to save money and raise money using Ethix.
Ethix Loves Local Technology and Supports Green Businesses
All of us at Ethix Merchant Services are eco-friendly and love local business helping the planet. We think the Bay Area based company, Tesla is doing amazing things worth sharing. So, check out the image of our awesome website displayed on the new Tesla Model S. This is a brand new luxury electric car that rivals Mercedes and BMW for class and comfort. We were amazed with the speed, looks, handling and especially the fact that it is all electric!
Thanks for paving the path to the future of eco-friendly cars and commutes Tesla. We’re proud of what you are doing here in the Bay Area to help the planet as a whole.
Helping Organizations Make A Difference-Community Building
We are dedicated to the organizations doing good in communities and worldwide. We support them like you do, by choosing merchants that donate to charities, getting our cars washed by school kids, buying cookies from scouts, writing checks annually to causes, donating toys for the holidays and more but as a company we do something unheard of… WE DONATE 25% OF OUR REVENUE TO NON-PROFITS AND CAUSES! If you are one of these organizations or are an advocate for them you should read on.
Use Ethix to process your credit cards – Join as a non-profit and…
- Reduce fees you pay on credit and debit card donations
- Receive a monthly 25% rebate on Ethix fees
- Raise money by introducing Ethix to your community of donors
We are here to help by providing printed material and email templates to reach your supporters and introduce Ethix as a way to donate more to your cause at no cost to them. These donations come from the 25% donation of our revenue that we make in fees from each merchant account. This donation will be a monthly, residual check that you can count on for the life of each merchant account, which means years of income for your organization.
Call us to sign up!
(510) 844-5903
The How & Why Of It All
Who is Ethix?
We are a committed team that love what we do. We are focused on giving back to our communities in our spare time. We are joined by a National sales team that are knowledgable, experienced and have passion for giving back and paying forward.
Why join as an Ethix merchant?
We will lower the credit processing fees you pay and give 25% back to a good-doing organization of your choosing.
How do we beat other’s rates?
Our motto is “fair & transparent” and our pricing structure reflects exactly that. We have no hidden fees and provide the simplest statement possible. We charge the interchange with only .25% plus $0.10 per transaction. Our sales reps can provide the saving range you can expect while signing up to be an Ethix merchant.
Why do we do this as a company?
We believe that is is crucial to fund organizations that do good work in our communities and it is important for us to be a socially responsible business.
How can we afford to do this?
We aren’t afraid of rolling up are sleeves and working hard. With over 12 years experience in the business, we negotiate on your behalf AND keep a much smaller percentage. We believe by doing this hard work we will not only build stronger communities, we can sustain our business through the word of mouth of our merchants and the organizations we help support.
- If you are a merchant, sign up for an Ethix account, processing your credit/debit cards and choose your non-profit you will to support.
- If you are a Non-Profit or Charity you can have Ethix process you credit cards and save money with lower processing fees and receive funds back from the fees you pay. Then suggest Ethix to your supporters to raise more monthly funds.
- As a consumer, choose businesses that are socially responsible, support charities and use Ethix as their merchant service provider.
- We need your help to spread the word about Ethix. The more merchants that work with us, the more organizations we can help.