Almost all of us have donated items to a charity at one time or another. Its great to get the stuff out of your house and let’s face it, its nice to get that tax deduction too. However, its a less than perfect system. You never know where the items are going or even if anyone wants them and its often times a real hassle to donate. Of course as a charity you have very little control over the process as you’re generally forced to accept whatever people have, rather than just what you need.

Well not anymore. With Zwaggle’s new charity feature, its easier than ever for families who have, to share with families in need. And like everything else on Zwaggle, we’ve worked hard to make it as easy as possible.

Here’s how it works:

• You post an item to Zwaggle and designate it as a charity item
• Then you share it with another Zwaggle family (same as before)
• Of course if you choose “Buyer Picks Up” then you don’t even have to leave your house
• But now a charity of your choosing gets your Zoints
• That charity can then use those Zoints to acquire items they need for their families.
• And wait, there’s more; you get a tax deduction.
• Everyone wins, again!

This great new feature just went live, but the response from both Zwaggle parents and charities, including the Family to Family Network and The Junior League, has been overwhelming. Keep it coming because the more families and charities involved the more everyone benefits.
To learn more about this exciting new feature, sign up your charity today or post an item to benefit a charity, click here.

Parents are involved in so many groups and clubs it’s almost hard to keep track sometimes. So when setting out to create Zwaggle we wanted to make a point of not replicating what already exists, but instead we wanted to build something that compliments these groups. The result… Zwaggle Groups which is yet another free resource to help parents get more out of their existing relationships, both on and off line. Now whether you’re a member of a moms club or your son’s hockey league, you can create or join a Zwaggle Group for that organization.

This new feature gives members the flexibility to trade even more locally than before or as nationally as you wish. You can:

• Replace that time consuming annual swap meet with an online, effortless Zwaggle Groups swap
• Eliminate the need to search through emails with subjects like Have / Want / Gone
• Post items and make them available exclusively, for a limited time, to other group members
• Search only for items posted by other members of your group or groups
• Of course, same as always, you can just trade with the entire nationwide Zwaggle community. It’s completely up to you.

To learn more, join an existing group or create your own new Zwaggle Group, click here.

One of the many benefits of Zwaggle is the positive impact parents can have on the environment by sharing their kid’s stuff with other parents. We believe very strongly in this message and it’s great to see others working towards this end, such as Kimberly Danek Pinkson over at the EcoMom Alliance. Along with many tips on how parents can lead more eco-friendly lives, she has several great suggestions on her blog for making your back-to-school preparations more environmentally friendly.

One of Kimberly’s suggestions is to organize a school product swap, which we think is a great idea. And now with the new Zwaggle Groups feature its easier than ever to get your organization’s swap meet started on Zwaggle. You can trade with other parents in your school, club, etc. or with a family on the other side of the country. Either way you’re not just saving money, but helping the environment in the process.

It takes almost no time to set up your group. To learn more and get started, click here.