TisBest Announces the Evolution of the Charity Gift Card, Making It Easier Than Ever to Give the Gift of Philanthropy

SEATTLE, Nov. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- The nation's leading charity gift card company, Seattle-based TisBest, http://www.tisbest.org, announced today the evolution of the charity gift card. Just in time for the holidays, TisBest has launched a new website to offer customers more features and options for giving the gift of philanthropy.

Only a year since its 2007 debut, TisBest, as in "Tis better to give than to receive," leads the industry in charity gift card innovation. In addition to the original charity gift cards sent by email or printed at home, TisBest customers can now purchase "classic" gift cards made of 100% recycled plastic, enclosed in a tasteful and custom printed greeting card and shipped one business day after the order is placed. Email, printer and plastic gift cards are all 100% customizable. They can depict any of 40 stock TisBest images or customers can elect to upload a photograph, artwork or corporate logo from their computer. Mailing lists can be uploaded and card purchasers can easily and quickly check to see when charity gift cards are spent and the charity that was supported.

"Last year our customers demonstrated the high demand for a more meaningful option for their holiday gift giving -- we sold 10,000 cards and raised more than $350,000 for charity in just two months," said Erik Marks, TisBest founder and executive director. "We asked our customers what they wanted, and in just six months have re-vamped the website to meet their wishes. Our nonprofit mission is encouraging businesses and consumers to give charity gifts cards instead of stuff and our new website and 100% customizable cards make that a more attractive choice than ever."

TisBest has also aligned itself with other websites, like Friendly Favor (http://www.friendlyfavor.com), a soon-to-be-launched all-purpose request hub for managing favors among friends, family and colleagues. Friendly Favor recommends giving TisBest charity gift cards as a way to say thank you for fulfilling a favor request.

A TisBest charity gift card recipient goes online and chooses to donate the money on their charity gift card to one of 250 charities that have been hand-selected by TisBest as responsible and effective. TisBest's charity gift cards are tax deductible for the purchaser and available in any amount from $10 to $5,000. TisBest aims to increase support for U.S. charities in two ways: first by re-allocating gift dollars normally spent on "stuff" to charitable organizations, and second by growing the pool of Americans that enjoy and participate in charitable giving.

"When I first heard about TisBest I was impressed that finally someone was making it easy to give the gift of charity," said Donald Heinz, one of TisBest's customers from last year. "Although I am a Lutheran minister and the author of a book about celebrating the holidays with less consumption, even I struggle to identify great gift alternatives. TisBest Charity Gift Cards are the answer. The TisBest website is both easy and enjoyable to use. Last year I gave TisBest cards to all of my adult children. Not only did my kids love the gift, but the conversations about values and sharing that the cards triggered really brought my family together around the holidays."

This holiday season TisBest has also incorporated feedback from businesses looking to offer charity gift cards as corporate holiday gifts for both their customers and their employees. Many changes to the site are designed to appeal to corporate users, such as allowing a company to add its own brand to the TisBest cards, upload address lists and track large orders.

"TisBest gift cards not only demonstrate good corporate citizenship but also seem to be more appreciated by the recipients than other gifts," said Claudia St. John, former vice president at POMCO Group and now with St. John Consulting. "Each year at POMCO we gave our employees a gift at the holiday party. Last year we gave TisBest gift cards -- the comments were just stunning -- this meant so much to our employees and the messages that they sent to the CEO were so touching. We both had not anticipated how special this would be. And the new website from TisBest is incredibly well thought out for business users -- without a doubt, I will give TisBest gift cards as employee and business gifts in the future."

About TisBest

TisBest founder Erik Marks has long been disenchanted with the frenzied gift-giving of the holiday season and the amount of money being spent on "stuff" that gives little satisfaction to the gift giver or the gift recipient. During a late night study session in his first year at Harvard Law School, Marks realized that charity gift cards were a solution to the gift-giving dilemma -- an easy way to give a deeply meaningful gift for both the giver and recipient. After 17 years as a lawyer and entrepreneur, Marks finally brought his charity gift card idea to life. TisBest, launched in 2007, offers an easy way for people who care to put gift-giving dollars toward creating a better world.

For more information, visit http://www.tisbest.org.