Give Back as a Shopify Brand: Donation Models and Proof
An ecommerce brand on Shopify can give back in four ways: donate a share of every sale, attach a donation to specific products, let customers add a donation at checkout, or make shipping carbon neutral with Shopify’s Planet app. Each one needs a cause, a rule a customer can understand (“$1 from every candle to the local food bank”), and proof that the money arrived. Shopify’s terms require claims about your store to be true, so a giving promise is a claim you must be able to back up.
Facts come from the Shopify Help Center pages on Planet and consumer protection, and app details from App Store listings, all read on October 23, 2026.
Four giving models
| Model | Example | Who pays | What you set up in Shopify | Proof you need |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Share of sales | 2% of every order in November | You | Nothing extra; you calculate from your sales report | Total sales for the period and the donation receipt |
| Per product | $1 from each “Ocean” tote | You | A line on the product page and a product or collection to report on | Units sold and the receipt |
| Checkout donation | Customer rounds up or adds $1, $3 or $5 | The customer | A donation app with a cart or checkout widget | Donations collected and passed on, per period |
| Carbon-neutral shipping | Shipping emissions removed | You, or the customer for $0.50 | The Planet app and its badge | Planet’s analytics on shipments and carbon removed |
Share of sales is the simplest to run and the easiest to explain. It also costs you money on every order, so pick a percentage your margin can carry in your busiest month.
Per product ties the cause to something the customer chooses. It works best when the product and the cause are related (a reef-safe sunscreen and a reef charity), and it gives you a clean number to report: units sold times the amount.
Checkout donations let customers give their own money. You pay only for the donation app, if it charges, and you take on the job of collecting money for someone else and passing it on, with records.
Carbon-neutral shipping is the one Shopify builds itself. Planet funds companies that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it. You can make all shipments carbon neutral, or let customers choose to pay $0.50 for carbon-neutral shipping at checkout. The Planet listing showed three subscription options from $0.00 to $0.15 per order and a 3.3 rating from 76 reviews on October 23, 2026.
Set it up in Shopify
Share of sales or per product. No app is needed. Write the promise on the product page or in a site-wide banner with three facts: the cause, the amount, and the period. At the end of the period, take the number from your sales reports (by product or collection for a per-product promise), make the donation, and keep the receipt.
Checkout donations. Donation apps add a widget to the cart, product pages or checkout. Two examples as their listings showed on October 23, 2026:
- Lift: Charity and Donations has a free Starter plan for one cause and up to 10 donations a month, and a Pro plan at $10 a month with multiple causes, matching of customer donations and donations through POS. The listing says the merchant decides how and when donations are passed to the causes. Rating 4.9 from 13 reviews.
- Zestard Easy Donation costs $6.99 a month (Basic) or $9.99 (Advance), each plus 0.05% of collected donations. It lists custom amounts, round-ups and donation widgets on cart, product, checkout and other pages. Rating 4.6 from 125 reviews.
Check on a donation app’s listing where the money goes. Lift’s listing, for example, says you decide how and when donations are passed on, so the payout is your job. Whichever app you use, keep a record per period that matches what you tell customers.
Carbon-neutral shipping. Install Planet, choose a plan (all shipments, or customer opt-in), and add the Planet badge to your store: marketing mode shows your climate impact, engagement mode lets customers contribute at checkout. Planet’s analytics show your carbon-neutral shipments and the carbon removed. Our guides to carbon-neutral shipping and sustainable packaging go further on the shipping side.
Show proof
Readers can only check a giving claim that has numbers. Shopify’s terms require the claims you make about your products and services to be true, and Shopify notes that in some jurisdictions the law imposes stricter requirements on marketing claims. Make it easy to check yours:
- Name the recipient by its registered name, so customers can look it up.
- State the rule in numbers. “$1 per tote” or “2% of November sales”, not “a portion of profits”.
- Publish a running total on an “Impact” page, updated each month or quarter, with the date of each donation.
- Show the receipt or the recipient’s acknowledgment when you can, or a statement from the charity that it received the money.
- Say when it ends, and take the banner down on that date.
Before you promise a donation tied to sales, check the local rules on fundraising with a named charity, and ask the charity for permission to use its name and logo. Some charities have their own rules for corporate partners. More guides on building a brand customers trust are in the marketing and SEO hub.
Frequently asked questions
How can a Shopify store donate to charity? Donate a share of sales or a fixed amount per product yourself, add a donation app that lets customers give at the cart or checkout, or make shipping carbon neutral with Shopify’s Planet app.
Is there a free donation app for Shopify? Some have free plans. On October 23, 2026, Lift’s Starter plan was free for one cause and up to 10 donations a month. Check each app’s listing for limits and for who handles the payout.
What does Shopify Planet cost? Planet’s listing showed three subscription options from $0.00 to $0.15 per order on October 23, 2026. With the customer opt-in option, customers can pay $0.50 for carbon-neutral shipping at checkout.
How do I prove my store’s donations? Name the recipient, state the rule in numbers, publish a running total with dates, and show receipts or the charity’s acknowledgment. Shopify’s terms require claims about your store to be true.