Wednesday, August 18, 2010

CauseOn Ties Coupons, Nonprofits

Portland-based CauseOn, a new startup, said today that it has launched a new discount couponing site which ties together discounts and deals with nonprofit causes. According to CauseOn, it will give consumers "amazing deals" and contribute up to 20 percent of its revenues to a cause of the consumer's choice. CauseOn is launching today in Portland, and so far has signed up Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Dougy Center, Girls Inc. and the YWCA as the firm's cause partners. CauseOn is the brainchild of Craig W. Barnes, who the co-founder of Attensa, Extensis, NOW Software, and Panels Network. The deals site said it has an "aggressive" rollout plan, with a target of covering 45 U.S. metro areas within a year. The firm said it expects to roll out next in New York City, Seattle, Denver, Orange County, Calif., and Los Angeles. CauseOn is entering a fairly crowded, group and local deals space, and competes head to head against such firms as Groupon.