Category Archives: Non-profit Organizations

Madonna a Voice for Hope and Action!

Posted on by
Reply

Hey Madonna, What’s going on?

“It has pretty much taken over my life, and I’m so grateful it has…I’ve started an organization called Raising Malawi…and any of your help would be greatly appreciated by me.” – Madonna 

As most us know, Madonna has established herself as a pop star known for pushing the envelop of the lyrical content in mainstream popular music as well as images in her music videos. 

Madonna is an American recording artist who is a Golden Globe winner and an entrepreneur in her own right.. She has risen to the height of being considered one of the most influential women in music today, and has sold more than 200 million albums worldwide. She is the most successful solo artist in the history of Billboard Hot 100 chart.

However, we care most about and want to spotlight her for how she gained global recognition by helping to bring an end to the extreme poverty and hardship endured by Malawi’s 2,000,000 orphans and vulnerable children once and for all.

Way back in 2006 Madonna and Michael Berg founded Raising Malawi, together. This non-profit organization supports community organizations that provide children who are the most vulnerable and their caregivers with nutritious food, proper clothing, a secure environment and formal education. They also help by providing targeted medical care, emotional care and psychological support.

Raising Malawi is also a supporter of non-government organizations that offer impoverished families with innovative opportunities for sustainability such as Millennium Promise and International Medical Corps. Millennium Promise is a non-profit organization which is working toward halving extreme poverty in Africa by 2015 – a goal we hope they will be able to achieve. They work to implement high-impact programs with the objective of transforming lives and part of that work is with the International Medical Corps, a global, humanitarian, nonprofit organization.

New on the horizon is Madonna’s launch of a new fund-raising force to support the work of a Malawian pediatric surgeon. Madonna matches every dollar donated to Raising Malawi and is partnered with SocialVibe, the leading social media utility connecting people and empowering them in several ways. We hope she can find a way to leverage armadio to bring an end to suffering and hunger to children in our country too!

 

 

Madonna has supported so many other charities it’s hard to keep track, but we’d like to call your attention to just a few, here’s the partial list

  • American Foundation for AIDS Research
  • Afghanistan Relief Organization
  • BID 2 BEAT AIDS
  • Bony Pony Ranch
  • buildOn
  • Charity Projects Entertainment Fund
  • Children in Need
  • Children of Peace
  • Live Earth
  • Make-A-Wish Foundation
  • Millennium Villages
  • MusiCares
  • Music Rising
  • Partners in Health
  • Raisa Gorbachev Foundation
  • Sentebale
  • Sweet Relief Musicians Fund
  • Treatment Action Campaign
  • UNICEF
  • UN Millennium Project

And she’s in good company here is a partial list of other supporters of the same charities & foundations: Alicia Keys, Angelina Jolie, Angélique Kidjo, Annie Lennox, Bill Clinton, Billy Joel, Bono, Brad Pitt, Cher, Céline Dion, Demi Moore, Jeffrey Sachs, John Legend,  and last but not least Mariah Carey.

 

Open a Closet for Charity

Posted on by
6

Helping a Charity
Opening a closet to help support a specific charity is at the core of what Armadio is all about.

However, sometimes, as my Dad likes to say, “charity begins at home” and if you need a little extra money for kids’ shoes or some other essential items than you owe it to your family to use the money from your Armadio sales to provide for them.

If your are fortunate enough not to need all the money from a sale for you or your family consider sharing a portion of the sale from your closet to support a charity you feel is doing great work!

Either way we hope that the Armadio community will be a “community of giving” whether it’s helping your family or someone else.

How We Add Charities
We want you to know how our process works for registering nonprofit organizations.

If you’d like us to add a nonprofit, you can submit a charity for our consideration. All you need to do is send us the name of the charity and any contact information you have – go to www.armadio.co and use the Contact form. We’ll contact the organization and let them know you told us about them.

Alternatively, you can have a representative of the charity contact armadio [same way using the Contact form on www.armadio.co] and we will assist them in getting on the website. Only an authorized representative can set up a charity account – they must agree to being registered on the site.

If you are the representative of a charity then you will want to set up a separate account for your organization to take advantage of potential donations. Click on the word “Charity” on the main menu and then use the “Add Your Charity” tab the rest of the steps will be clear [Let us know if it is not clear].

Once a charity has set up a profile page they must then be approved – we take this very seriously to guard against fraud. We authenticate all nonprofit profile requests using GuideStar http://www.guidestar.org/Home.aspx.

That’s our process and we hope you appreciate the care we take. Looking forward to seeing your “fabulous closet” on armadio!

 

Are You Ready to Open an Armadio.co Closet?

Posted on by
2

Are you ready to open your armadio.co “closet?” Now is the time to get started! The beta site is ready for your closet. Please consider this your personal invitation!

So, if you want to start selling and letting us know about nonprofit organizations you’d like to support, than it’s time to: “Get on your mark, Get set, GO!.

Here’s what we recommend you do:

First, walk over to your closet (dresser, shelves, etc.) and begin the “Three Pile” exercise – you’ll find details here”  Do you Have a Closet or a Dungeon?

Then, organize “Pile # 2″ [put similar items together] photograph the clothes, accessories, and jewelry you want to sell (a phone camera is usually all you need).

Now go to armadio.co and set up a closet. Your online store will have it’s own unique web page (Example Time and Again) and you can use it as a link from other places you visit (e.g., twitter, FB, Pinterest) You’re in Business!

 

Lucy Liu Black Belt in Helping Prominent Causes

Posted on by
4

Actress Lucy Liu, is considered the most well-known and visible Asian American women in the media today. She is an active artist in several forms of media and a women you don’t want to make angry given her martial arts capabilities (expert in Kali-Eskrima-Silat, which is knife-and-stick fighting). But kidding aside, Lucy is a formidable force, she is the “Asian Excellence Award” winner for Visibility, and visibility comes in handy as she pursues roles as ambassador and spokesperson for a number of prominent causes.

Liu took part in the America: A Tribute to Heroes charity telethon for victims of 9/11. In 2001, she was the spokesperson for the Lee National Denim Day fundraiser, a single-day fundraiser created by Lee Jeans to support the women’s cancer programs run by the Entertainment Industry Foundation, a 501©(3) non-profit, and the leading charitable organization of the entertainment industry, funding more than 300 charitable organizations annually, both in the Los Angeles area and throughout the United States.

I hope we can one day have Lucy Liu use the reach of our website and her wonderful sense of style to promote causes she is passionate about and help us help others. She certainly is no stranger to helping people around the world. Liu has traveled to Pakistan and Lesotho, among other countries, as an Ambassador for UNICEF.

 

She has also donated profits of her art shows directly to UNICEF and also through Whatever It Takes, a unique artwork campaign launched by 21st Century Leaders.

Lucy Liu has supported numerous charitable organizations during her fabulous acting career. Here are few charities where she has taken an active role: 21st Century Leaders, Bicycle For A Day, Entertainment Industry Foundation, Raising Malawi, UNICEF, and Whatever It Takes.

Keep up the great work Lucy, we look forward to your next block-buster role and we thank you for being a great role model and an inspiration to us all.

Together We Can Fight Cancer!

Posted on by
3

Yes, this is a bold statement!  Nothing great has ever come from making timid statements. As Captain Kirk (Starship Enterprise) was fond of saying, we will “boldly go” where no one has gone before (although proper English would be we will “go boldly”).

It was a bold statement that President Kennedy made when he said we would reach the moon in ten years. A vision that propelled this country forward. Not a ten or fifteen point plan, but a vision, a bold challenge, which set us in motion, not just to reach the moon, it was a catalyst for driving new technologies and educating our young folks in science and mathematics.

Martin Luther King made a bold statement when he delivered his famous “I have a dream” speech, which still sends shivers up my spine. Well we’re not pretending to be in the league of JFK or Martin Luther King, but I do believe that together we can accomplish what others might think is impossible.

Armadio is not actually going to do cancer research, far from it. However, we are creating a “community of giving” and providing that community with the tools to unlock value they already have; and through generosity to redistribute this value in the form of donations to causes worth fighting for – helping to fight the plague of cancer is our bold statement.

Here’s How to Help.
Armadio is designed to provide you a place to set up a closet (it’s your own storefront) and begin selling. Buyers will come, but first we (you and many others like you) must fill the mall with “inventory” and that’s where Armadio needs your help.

To make it interesting we are having a drawing, the prizes are: Two Kindle Fire tablets. We will randomly select two winning closets from among the first 500 closets that open with five items or more. The winning closets will also be featured on the Armadio’s Homepage.

In addition, these 500 closets will be placed in a second drawing for ten (10) beautifully hand crafted pieces of costume jewelry. 

Please help us fill the “beta site mall” with great fashions so we can get the ball rolling! We appreciate your help to create a community of giving. Armadio needs your help

Armadio more than a website – it’s a Movement!

Gwyneth Paltrow Donates and Donates and…

Posted on by
6

Gwyneth Paltrow is a “charity machine.” This beautiful celebrity truly believes in giving back. Among the work she’s involved in is the donation Estée Lauder makes of a minimum of $500,000 of sales of items from the ‘Pleasures Gwyneth Paltrow’ collection to breast cancer research. In 2008, Paltrow donated $75,000 to the Food Bank For New York City.and said we all need to be doing more.

Paltrow also gives of her time serving on the board of the Robin Hood Foundation, a charitable organization which attempts to mitigate the many problems caused by poverty in the Big Apple (New York City). She hs been the Ambassador for the Saks Fifth Avenue Key To The Cure campaign against breast cancer. And, she narrated the UNICEF film The Gift.

However, it doesn’t stop there.Actress Gwyneth Paltrow – who is married to Coldplay singer Chris Martin – is a big supporter of Kids Company and British band Coldplay donated £1 million to this children’s charity in the UK. The group made this donation because the charity provides practical, emotional and educational support to vulnerable inner-city children and young people. They focus especially on kids with severe emotional, behavioral and social difficulties, that resulted from significant experiences of trauma and neglect..

Last year, she cleaned out her closet for an auction to benefit the charity, and she recently designed a range of clothes to raise money for the organization. We hope that someday soon Gwyneth will work with Armadio to create a fundraiser that will do something spectacular!

Gwyneth Paltrow has supported many other charities, here are the names of a few of them: Act Green, American Cancer Society, Environmental Media Association, Healthy Child Healthy World, Hoping Foundation, Keep A Child Alive, The Lunchbox Fund, and UNICEF.

 

Way to Gwyneth! You are a role model and an inspiration to us all.

 

Spotlight on Debra Messing

Posted on by
1

Hollywood stars know there are many causes that need a champion’s support.and that those in need are in need year-round. It’s wonderful to know that there are celebrities out there who are giving back to the communities they live in and not simply using their celebrity status to increase the glitter, red carpet events, and glamour that surrounds them. Numerous celebrities use the position and connections they have, not to mention their large incomes, for the greater good. We give these celebrities a standing ovation for the example they set and the good works they support.

One very good case-in-point is how Debra Messing rolls. She’s a New York’er and knows a thing or two about how hard city life can be on people.

One of Debra Messing’s more substantial efforts has been with the charity Trevor Project, which tackles a number of issues. This nonprofit organization helps in the prevention of suicide and promotes the acceptance of gay and questioning teenagers. She has in fact been the recipient of The Trevor Life Award, which is an honor few people have received. Debra has teamed up with Italian jeweler Bulgari in it’s efforts to help Save the Children with its 125th Anniversary campaign. She has participated as an advocate for other foundations and groups such as Feeding America, Autism Speaks, The Art of Elysium, and Clothes Off Our Back.

Wow Debra, we’re impressed and we want our readers to know about the great things you’re doing offstage. Perhaps one day soon you’ll consider using Armadio as a platform for conducting a fundraiser. You could show women some of the fabulous fashions in your closet by posting them online for sale with Armadio. If you did, I’m guessing women across America would stand up and be counted by donating to your favorite cause.  .

Debra Messing, we appaud you and wish you all the best in your career and your charitable work – we hope to see you participating on Armadio.co someday soon.

 

Nonprofits are Hurting in the Down Economy

Posted on by
Reply

We all know how much the down economy has hurt us as well as the people we know and care about.  What you might not know is that nonprofit organizations suffer in a down turn too or perhaps more accurately the people nonprofits help suffer more due to a lack of donations.

Children are Hurting

Let’s face it, when your personal income and assets are down finding a little extra to give away is harder – there just isn’t as much left after the necessities. Many of you – and bless you for it – try hard to keep your charitable donations flowing, but the bottom line is donations levels dip down like everything else [expect oil prices] in a bad economy.

Well we have a suggestion – find the things around your home that you don’t use and can give to a charity For example the Salvation Army is asking for donations of autos,trucks, boats,RV, etc.

Okay admittedly not too many of us have an extra car parked in the driveway, but many of us have clothes in our closets and handbags, jewelry and other apparel we simply don’t use or need. If you start organizing these items now you’ll be ready to sell them on Armadio.co

Armadio, Italian for closet, is an online marketplace for selling pre-owned and new women’s apparel, accessories, and jewelry. The site is Integrated with an environment that supports and promotes donations to nonprofits. Using Armadio.co solves two problems, the need for donations and a way to feel good about reducing the clutter you have in your home.

Signup for our News and Updates and be among the first to receive an announcement about our launch date in February.

Is There a Better Way?

Posted on by
3

Selling preowned apparel isn’t always easy. Your opportunities are limited largely to brick and mortar retailers in the form of consignment stores, which are perfectly fine, but have drawbacks. The most obvious of which is you’re limited to selling to a local market. Limited choices have forced you to use consignment stores, which can be awkward and because they have high overhead costs they keep a large portion of the money from the sale of your apparel.

Online solutions offer you an alternative, but are often difficult to use too. Opening an online store to sell a few items requires overcoming hurdles most of us are unlikely to jump. Plus, this approach can also be expensive.

In addition, while many of you are accustom to donating clothes, there are limited venues for using the value in your closet to support a favored nonprofit organization. The options discussed above don’t support easy paths for donating all or a portion of the sale to a charity. Therefore, the burden of being charitable falls on you the seller.

Closet Management from Armadio

While some currently available online sites offer options for donating your sale proceeds, unless you are a business or have one special (expensive) item to sell the effort involved and the fees charged are disincentives.

We believe there is a better way and we think Armadio.co is it. No more hard to navigate setup procedures. You can easily open a store, we call them “closets. It’s simple to create descriptions, post images, and provide details about the clothes and accessories you wish to sell.

There are no setup fees, no hosting fees, no insertion fees, and no extra fees for additional images. Just one modest transaction fee when you make a sale.

Plus, you have the flexibility to donate as much money as you want to from your closet’s sales to any charity you like. No more limited choices – simply select the charity you like and tell us how much you want to give and we take care of the rest. If you don’t see your favorite nonprofit listed, tell us and we’ll work to add them as quickly as we can.

We hope you agree that Armadio is a “better way.”

 

Good Will or Armadio?

Posted on by
Reply

Is it really only one or the other? Frankly, no. And, we would encourage you to help the Good Will folks, they provide a great service for our communities.

However, it’s likely you have three types of unwanted or underused clothing in your closet that you can sort through and pass on to a new owner.

First, the clothing and coats,etc that were expensive and only lightly used, but that don’t work for you anymore, regardless of the reason(s) why. These items are a perfect fit (yes, pun intended) for Armadio.co and provide a great opportunity to donate a portion of the money to a favored charity.

Second, are the cloths that have plenty of ware left in them and would be great for the Good Will truck – bag’em up and get a receipt when you drop them off – they make a good tax write-off.

And, finally there are the items that you’ve basically used up and should find a home in the trash – these are typically the bargain items that looked good when you bought them but quickly lost their luster.

In addition, many of the accessories and certainly any jewelry would be better suited to a private sale on Armadio.co,then a Good Will bag, perhaps with some portion donated to a worthy cause.

A good way to look at the timeline of moving clothes out of your closet and into someone else’s is: First sell them on Armadio.co, and donate a portion of the money, then eventually the clothes will find their way to Good Will – Creating Double Good Will!