The art of giving back – lavishly

A new business that combines commerce with philanthropy has taken root in Cincinnati and may serve as a new outlet for the socially-conscious consumer. The brain child of transplanted entrepreneur, Jane Pennells, the recently-launched site is a testament to the founder, and cancer survivor’s, never-surrender attitude.

“The concept is that we sell interesting products in a number of categories with 20 percent of the purchase of $100 or more goes to any charity the buyer wants,” says Jane Pennells, owner and founder of Lavish Giving.

In the summer of 2005, Pennells was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Not long following her tragic news, a close friend in England began her own battle with end-state kidney cancer. With the realization that tomorrow is never promised, Pennells took inventory of where she was currently and what she would do with the rest of her time.

Following six months of treatment, and with her cancer in remission, she decided it was time to give back in the memory of those she had lost, as well as the doctors and organizations that helped her through her recovery. Already a successful owner of Poême stationery shop in Hyde Park Square, Pennells was inspired to try something different. “I was determined to create a retail business through which I could give back to some of the organizations that have touched my life so profoundly,” says Pennells.

Inspiration for her next endeavor struck while preparing for her annual Poême Christmas party for top clients. Pennells offered an innovative twist to her traditional gift of 20 percent off of their purchases. Instead of taking the discount for themselves, Pennells provided the option of donating 20 percent of their full-priced sale to one of four local charities.  
    
“It was outstanding. No one took the discount,” says Pennells.

Encouraged by the success of her home-grown fundraiser, Pennells created the skeleton for Lavish Giving – an online retail site that provides customers an effortless way to make substantial donations to their favorite causes, while shopping for the things they want to buy.

The site offers a diverse collection of products from top designers. For every purchase of $100 or more, shoppers can donate 20% of the price to their favorite charity in the form of a Good Card. “A Good Card is the same as a gift card,” Pennells says. “After receiving their merchandise, customers have a seven-day grace period where they can return any merchandise.” On the eighth day, the Good Cards are shipped. Once in hand, donors can give to any one of the 1.7 million registered non-profit organizations in the country.

Pennells originally intended to have a select list of charities for her shoppers to choose from. Because Lavish Giving is not a non-profit organization itself, some of the country’s larger charity organizations would not endorse the site or allow the use of their name.  Pennells circumvented the small setback by opening her list of non-profit organizations to literally, all of them through the help of Network for Good – an online clearing house of all registered non-profits.

The site has a sophisticated look and feel thanks to the work of local design agency, Blue WhiteSpace. One of the challenges to the site was being able to logically and attractively organize both products and giving opportunities into a user-friendly site. Launched in April, the site has already seen significant growth. “The intention is to start small and grow small,” says Pennells.

Pennells’ love for entrepreneurship started in her home country of England at her family’s pipe organ business. While working for her family, she completed several apprenticeships and with her father’s help, was able to manage the family business  abroad following her move to Cincinnati in 1991.  

“Cincinnati has a European feel,” says Pennells, who currently resides in Mt. Lookout.    

After launching the Natural Paper Company in Mt. Lookout Square in 1997, Pennells opened Poême, a stationary store that featured hand-made papers and invitations. Following her bout with cancer, Pennells decided to sell the successful company in 2007 to concentrate her energy on Lavish Giving. Once the site recoups some of its initial investment, Pennells plans to launch an aggressive marketing campaign help the shop prosper.

Photography by Scott Beseler
Jane Pennells
Lavish Giving