How Your Donations Help Support Our Work Toward Food Equality for All

If you frequently shop with Thrive Market, you’re likely used to seeing the “donate at checkout” prompt when you place your order. This unique feature is an important part of our mission: It enables us to activate our community to raise funds that help support those in need. 

When you donate to a cause you believe in, we understand that it’s important to know exactly where your donations are going and how they’re being distributed. We spoke to our Senior Director of Mission, Kristin DeSimone, to better understand the ins and outs of member donations — and how they’ve helped us raise more than $13.4 million to date for food equality. 

How does donating at checkout work? 

Kristin DeSimone: Any Thrive Market member can gift their order savings (or any dollar amount) at checkout. All donations go towards our mission to expand access to healthy living. Millions of Americans still lack access to healthy food, and we’re committed to changing that — but we can’t do it alone. 

How do these donations help to support our mission? 

KD: In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated food inequality in the U.S., we pledged to raise and donate $10 million to provide healthy groceries for those in need by 2025. We reached that goal two years early — and are now aiming to raise $20 million for food equality by 2030. These goals would not be achievable without the generosity of our member community. We’re on a mission, and we’re powered by our members.

When a member makes a donation, where does the money go?

KD: 100% of member donations go to support grocery discounts and stipends for Thrive Gives members to use to shop healthy groceries on our site, nonprofit partners like FoodCorps and FoodCycle LA that help us reach people in need, and food and product donations following natural disasters. To date, we’ve helped to support those affected by the Maui fires, earthquake relief in Turkey and Syria, and many others.

How, exactly, do donations support our Thrive Gives members? 

KD: Through our Thrive Gives program, every annual membership purchased sponsors a free membership for a family in need. As these members often have limited resources and income, and even with our already discounted product offering, they still may not be able to shop with us. That’s why we route a portion of member donations at checkout to fund grocery discounts and stipends, allowing even more accessibility to purchase the products they need to lead a healthy and full life. I’d recommend checking out Uele and Dori’s stories — they’re a great example of Thrive Gives donations in action!  

Why is it so important to continue to support the fight for food equality?

KD: In 2021, the rate of food insecurity among low-income households in the US was 33.8 million people. In 2022, the rate of food insecurity increased by 37% to 44.2 million people (much higher than pre-pandemic levels) and by 44% as of July 2023. These are staggering numbers, but they’re not just numbers; they show how many Ameicans are struggling just to put food on the table for themselves and their families. These statistics underscore the importance of continuing to make progress towards our mission to make healthy and sustainable living easy and accessible for all, and it’s members like you who play a vital role in helping us get there. 

Want to make a donation at checkout? Here’s how: 

1. Fill your cart with healthy, affordable groceries just like you normally do. 
2. Hover over the shopping cart icon in the upper right corner of your screen, then click the “checkout” button underneath.
3. Once you’re at the checkout screen, you’ll notice a box with the Thrive Gives logo in the corner. If you click the dropdown menu, you’ll see options for donation amounts: donate 100% of your total Thrive Market savings, a certain percentage of your savings, or a custom amount of your choosing. 
4. Review your Order Summary in the right sidebar to make sure everything looks good to go. (Note: you’ll see a section marked “Savings Donation” that tells you how much you’re donating.) 
5. Click the “Place your order” button to place your grocery order — and make your donation!