Monday, January 24, 2011

Charitable Designs

Increasingly in our wired world, businesses large and small are learning the absolute necessity of a strong web-presence. But if you've ever tried to commission a website design, license a domain or contract with a host, you probably realize that the process can be a fair bit trickier than the sum of its parts. That's one of the reasons WebsitesGiveB@ck caught my eye. The Front Royal, Virginia-based family business offers creative but affordable web design services, specializing in small businesses and the service business community. For one flat rate, they bundle together the entire project: designing a five-page site, registering your domain, offering a year of web hosting, submitting your site to search engines, even throwing in a few hours of technical assistance.

But as their name implies, WebsitesGiveB@ck has a secondary mission. As envisioned by co-founders Elena Patrice and Linda Saker, the company donates about 20% of the proceeds of each web design project to a charity of the client's choosing. As Elena Patrice told me, "We feel we have a huge opportunity to help in two significant ways. First, small businesses are struggling, and we present them with an amazing service that covers virtually every base in their website design for one flat rate. We go many 'extra miles' because we want to do all we can to sincerely and honestly serve small business owners. Second, we help charitable organizations, who are experiencing their greatest decline in donor assistance ever. We summarize our efforts as the 3 C's: Company-Customer-Cause. It all works together, and that's our tag line: 'Good business and goodwill coming together.'"
According to a listing on their site, WebsitesGiveB@ck and their customers have donated to The American Red Cross, Toys For Tots, The Nature Conservancy and Special Olympics, among many others. For 2011, they have sent the ambitious goal of raising $60,000 in charitable donations.

Like many small businesses profiled on this blog, WebsitesGiveB@ck sees the relationship between business, the community and philanthropic groups as an evolving, interdependent one. As Patrice describes it, "As an entrepreneur in this time in history, 'giving back' and thinking of more than the bottom line is almost hardwired into you. For us, it was the cornerstone. Something that Sir Richard Branson stated has always stuck with me: 'With success and owning a business comes an awesome responsibility to others.' He is correct and we all need to keep this in mind."

9 comments:

Elena Patrice said...

Thank you Lalia and Blair! We're so grateful to you and others who "get" WGB and are helping spread the word. Much success to you and your wonderful, worthy endeavors! Elena

Front Royal VA said...

Thank you for exposing companies that no only benefit the company, but others in need. Great Article...Well Done! Best wishes to Elena and Linda.

Anonymous said...

This is a great idea! Big props to Websites Give Back!

Brad Fallon said...

WebsitesGiveB@ck is definitely great! Unlike other web design companies who gets paid with huge amount of money for their services without sharing their profits. WebsitesGiveB@ck should be given recognition of what they are doing..

Unknown said...

Charity is a supreme virtue, and the great channel through which the mercy of God is passed on to mankind. It truly is a virtue that unites all people.
What a heartwarming pleasure it is to see that in these challenging economic times, a small family owned company sees the 'big' picture and exemplifies a standard by which all businesses...large and small.. should practice.
Elizabeth Sills

Anonymous said...

Front the DC area:

What better way to acquire a website than by helping others. Also, it is one of the most economical website business out there. Caring for the customer and others should be the standard of every business. Bully for you Websites give back, I applaud your efforts and hope you are successful in all your endeavors!

Lalia Helmer said...

Thanks to all of you who have commented on the terrific work that Websites Gives back is doing. We hope that their work in developing this philanthropic company will inspire others to do the same.

Transcription Services said...

Never heard of WebsitesGiveB@ck. But its truely doing a great job. Loved the concept for their business. Hats off, to the mastermind working behind this.

Anonymous said...

I wish that there were more types of businesses out there like this one. Giving back to those in need, while satisfying your own business needs is a perfect blend of common sense and compassion. Best wishes to you and to your business...Tricia