RBST relies on the generosity of its members, supporters and funders and the response to special appeals is always impressive. Every penny counts – and there are ways of helping to boost RBST funds that you can build into your everyday life without adding to your personal outlay.

To help you help rare breeds, RBST has signed up with three commerce-based online platforms that provide ways to raise funds which easily fit into our online shopping routines. And the beauty of these is that you can give as you shop without adding a penny to your bill.

GIVE AS YOU LIVE - www.giveasyoulive.com

Give as you Live is one free and easy way to raise money by shopping online. Once you’ve signed up, you can browse its website for the store you want to shop with. Click ‘shop & raise’ to go to their website, then continue to shop as normal. You can choose from over 4,300 stores – including John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Next, Expedia and B&Q. The donation amount varies from store to store. Most of the time you raise a percentage of what you spend - between 1% and 10% - whilst sometimes it’s a fixed amount. There are no joining or payment fees and you will receive an email within 1 to 7 days from Give As You Live to let you know how much you have raised. 

EASY FUNDRAISING - www.easyfundraising.org.uk

Easyfundraising is another platform that turns your everyday online shopping into free donations. Start your online shopping at easyfundraising.org.uk and search for the retailer you want to shop with, then click on to them using the green ‘Go Shopping’ button. That will take you straight to the retailer’s website and you continue to shop in the normal way.

You can also install a ‘Donation Reminder’ which means that a box will appear if you are shopping with a retailer who participates in the scheme, so you don’t even need to visit the easyfundraising site first. All you need to do is click Activate Donations and any eligible purchase will be recorded for you. 

For mobile phones and tablets there is an easyfundraising App, available free of charge from your App store.

AMAZON SMILE - smile.amazon.co.uk

AmazonSmile is a website operated by Amazon with the same products, prices and shopping features as Amazon.co.uk. The difference is that when you shop on AmazonSmile, Amazon will donate 0.5% of the net purchase price (excluding VAT, returns and shipping fees) from your eligible AmazonSmile purchases. On your first visit to AmazonSmile (smile.amazon. com), you can choose RBST from the list of eligible organisations, then every time you make an eligible purchase via Amazon Smile, RBST will automatically receive a donation.