CHICAGO, IL (December 21, 2004) – Nearly $3,000 has been raised in support of various projects in Congo through efforts of Covenant Bookstore, according to store manager Jeff Lennard.
Customers entering the store, which is located across the street from the North Park University campus, are greeted with signs encouraging them to donate directly to Congo projects or to take advantage of a special “Congo discount” promotion that offers an additional discount on store purchases for every dollar customers donate to the Congo effort.
The wall behind the cashier station (see accompanying photo) displays a number of Congo project items that customers can support, such as contributing $80 to purchase a hospital bed or as little as a dollar to purchase a packet of seeds for a family to grow food. “That portion of the promotion has raised $1,964,” Lennard noted earlier in the week.
The wall behind the cashier station (see accompanying photo) displays a number of Congo project items that customers can support, such as contributing $80 to purchase a hospital bed or as little as a dollar to purchase a packet of seeds for a family to grow food. “That portion of the promotion has raised $1,964,” Lennard noted earlier in the week.
The additional discount on store purchases has raised more than $900, Lennard noted, though that total is expected to grow as the promotion continues. The promotional discount works like this: if a customer donates $5 to the Congo effort, the customer receives a five percent discount on all store purchases; for a $10 donation, the discount is matched at ten percent. The percentage of discount increases to a total of 35 percent for a donation of $35 or more. (To see additional photos that explain the program, please see Covenant Bookstore.
“The idea for the Bookstore Congo promotion came from a discussion that Mary Kainovic, Kate Cannon and I had on how we should merchandise the wall space behind the registers for Christmas,” Lennard explained. “We discussed how many stores offer ‘doorbusters’ to get customers into their stores and how we wanted to address that. The idea came that customers always like a discount, we then discussed how we wanted that discount to work.
“Mary suggested that some retailers will give customers the opportunity to contribute to a charitable organization at checkout and designate that contribution with some sort of marker (like the paper shoes you often see hanging),” Lennard continued. “We all agreed this was a great idea for the ‘Congo Project’ and if customers would like to contribute to the project, we would pass that generosity along by discounting their entire bookstore purchase for that visit. Everyone was excited about the idea and Kate took over with the merchandising of the wall space behind the counter so it would reflect our campaign.”
The promotion started the day after Thanksgiving and will run through the end of the year. Those interested in supporting the Congo project by purchasing items like hospital beds, infant scales, school supplies and seed packets may request copies of either the Catalog of Congo Needs and Projects or the Kids Helping Kids! Congo Project Kids’ Catalog by calling 800-621-1290 or by emailing info@covenantbookstore.com.
Congo support can also be provided online by visiting the online Covenant Bookstore at www.covchurch.org and selecting the Covenant Bookstore link under the “Resources” section (at right) of the Covenant home page. The bookstore welcome page features four items related to the Congo projects that are supported by the Paul Carlson Partnership, including packets of Congo Christmas cards (net proceeds benefit Congo projects) or gift cards that can be purchased in the name of an individual with the funds going directly to the Congo initiative. Items may be purchased online using a major credit card.
To learn more about the Paul Carlson Partnership and the Congo projects, select the partnership link from the “Other Ministries” section located in the upper left area of the Covenant home page.
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