NRF's ARTS releases retail standard 'Change4Charity'

05 Apr '14

2 min read

The Association for Retail Technology Standards, a division of the National Retail Federation, announced the release of its Change4Charity Standard.

Adoption by point-of-sale vendors and donation processors will lower costs for retailers and support greater participation in charity programs by smaller retailers and non-profits, ultimately raising more funds for those in need.

“As more consumers move to electronic payments, the idea of dropping change into a donation jar at the register is fading,” said NRF Vice President of Retail Technologies Tom Litchford. “At the moment, the cost of integrating selling systems to separate charities is a barrier for smaller retail companies, and many smaller charities don’t have the resources to take advantage of electronic integrations. We are eager to push this out to retailers who want to make a difference in the communities they serve.”

The initiative for the Change4Charity standard grew out of a discussion at the Retail Orphan Initiative Super Saturday event during NRF’s 2013 BIG Show in New York City. Since then, industry leaders, retail executives and their business partners have worked together to discuss how to streamline and expedite charitable giving at the point-of-sale by allowing the donation to happen through a transaction terminal.

The goals for this standard are to support as many different types of selling systems as possible without increasing transaction times and to lower the integration costs for retailers, making it easier to adopt “Change4Charity” programs. Over $358 million was raised for nonprofits in 2012 from checkout charity campaigns. These programs allow retailers to provide charitable giving opportunities to their customers that directly benefit their communities. .

In addition to solution providers and retail communities, ARTS worked with charity processors for their engagement and assistance. The work team was chaired by Oracle’s David Dorf with contributions from POS and loyalty solution providers and retailers from the United States, Europe and Asia.

Other contributors were Cisco Systems, Cumulus Data Services, Demandware, Digital Donations, DonateWiseNow, Epicor, MicroStrategy, Mini Donations, PCMS Datafit, PricewaterhouseCoopers, SAP, Starmount and Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions.

The Association for Retail Technology Standards, a community of the National Retail Federation, provides the retail industry with the latest research and best practices through specialized technology standards, developments and educational programming.

ARTS standards, products and programs are dedicated to fostering innovation and supporting the retail community by providing a more efficient retailer-to-consumer relationship. Through collaboration and partnerships, ARTS enhances retailers and their business partners’ ability to conduct business globally

NRF

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