The Education Foundation of Downers Grove District 58 announces its partnership with KOHA, a new mobile app loyalty program that helps users raise money for their schools, while supporting local businesses. The new app launched Jan. 1 as a pilot program with the Education Foundation and more than 20 Downers Grove-based companies.
The Education Foundation invites families to download the “KOHA Life” app on their mobile device. The app will prompt users to create an account and select a District 58 school to support. When KOHA users shop at a participating business (listed in the app) and snap a photo of their receipt, a portion of their purchase will go back to their school.
Education Foundation director and former small business owner Shaun Black founded the KOHA app as an innovative way for local businesses to support District 58 schools. He recognized that schools coordinate community fundraisers to rally families, friends and small businesses to support school programming and activities. Unfortunately, because small businesses face financial challenges month to month, it becomes increasingly difficult to support community fundraisers without thinking twice of the impact of their donations.
“Our Education Foundation puts together fundraising events such as Oktoberfest and the Harlem Wizards to benefit District 58 schools,” said Liz O’Toole, president of the Education Foundation of Downers Grove District 58. “It is a challenge to cultivate funds from new resources and to expect the same level of support from our current donors because charitable giving budgets change year to year.”
Black said he was challenged to give back to the community every year his previous business, Lemon Tree Grocer, was in operation.
“There were times during the year where we felt horrible for not being able to support every fundraiser in Downers Grove. Our store wanted to be generous to every cause, but it became increasingly difficult to keep saying ‘yes’,” said Black. “Being a board member on the Education Foundation for District 58 also really made me think about what we could do to support our local small businesses while benefiting schools and non-profits so that it would be profitable for everyone involved.”
In 2015, Black recruited fellow Foundation board director, Janet Alikpala, who is a veteran nonprofit and charitable foundation fundraiser and native to Downers Grove. Ongoing conversations between them got them to think about ways to bridge the gap among small businesses, schools and nonprofits to help build a stronger community. These conversations led both Black and Alikpala to create KOHA.
“Downers Grove has a special place in my heart,” said Alikpala, “I’ve grown up in this school district and it would be wonderful if we could create a program where our small business community was given credit for donations they contribute on a regular basis and local schools and nonprofits supported them in return.”
In the KOHA initiative, small businesses commit to donate a small percentage of a transaction when the sale comes from a KOHA user and supporter of the local school or non-profit organization. In turn, KOHA aims to support small businesses by increasing their visibility to local schools and nonprofit organizations regularly through patented app technology. Also, transactions are automated and tracked real-time so every participating business can focus on serving their customers and not take time away to track donation requests and donations.
Learn more about KOHA at www.koha.life.
Media inquiries about KOHA and the Education Foundation of Downers Grove District 58 may be directed to Janet Alikpala at 312-217-4369 or janet@koha.life.