While many big merchants are struggling to sustain their sales, one of the fastest growing retailers in Minnesota is a nonprofit. Sales at the thrift stores of Goodwill-Easter Seals Minnesota have been soaring thanks to a surge in the opening of new stores beyond the urban core. Consumers' growing frugality is also boosting sales.
In the past three years, Goodwill's retail sales have jumped about 75 percent to $67 million, a growth rate any business executive would be happy to brag about.
Goodwill Industries International, a leading social enterprise, is pleased to announce that it has been globally ranked as a top ten workforce development nonprofit by Philanthropedia, an organization devoted to improving and measuring nonprofit effectiveness. The organization surveyed a large group of experienced nonprofit experts, including foundation professionals, government officials, nonprofit senior staff, academics, researchers, and others, and asked them to identify some of the highest-impact nonprofits working in their sectors.
ROCKVILLE, Md., August 31, 2009 — Shopgoodwill.com, the nation's first and only nonprofit Internet auction site, is celebrating its 10 years in existence and proving that Goodwill Industries(R) is not only a leader in job placement, but also innovative social enterprise through its use of technology. The charitable auction site, ranked one of the TopTenREVIEWS' Top 10 online auction sites and Time.com's "50 Best Websites of 2009," has created a window into cyberspace, bringing a whole new world of shoppers and donors in contact with Goodwill(R) and its mission of providing job training programs, employment placement services and community programs throughout North America.
