Not Just Shopping--Helping

Shopping for clothes doesn’t have to be a selfish endeavor. A new Web site called ShopForChange.com (https://www.shopforchange.com) lets customers buy from chains like J. Crew and JCPenney while supporting social causes.

Every time a shopper makes an online purchase through a Web site linked to ShopForChange, an automatic donation is made to a nonprofit organization at no cost to the customer.

Five percent of the purchase price goes to a group of 50 charities, including the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, Family Violence Prevention Fund, Rainforest Action Network and Human Rights Watch. Each year, registered members of ShopForChange can send in nominations for donation recipients.

The site is run by Working Assets, a for-profit organization in San Francisco, which has generated more than $16 million in nonprofit donations through long-distance, credit card and Internet services.