In the Beginning
When we opened Oakland Puzzle Company, we planned to do a fundraising drive with each puzzle pre-order campaign. It was a win-win, as the money would help seed our printing costs, and the organization would help promote the release. While we did raise thousands of dollars for organizations last year, we saw that the pre-orders were a small percentage of our overall sales, and the campaigns did not have the impact that we had hoped. These events were also difficult to explain and intensive to run. Ultimately, we decided a simpler donation model could be steadier and have more integrity.
Where We are Now
We take the "do good" aspect of our motto very seriously and want to be transparent about our fundraising. Our product pages and Community Partners page now reflect the following giving levels, some of which are contractual and some we retroactively applied to the beginning of 2024.
Non-profits
10% of Fruitful Art goes to Creative Growth Art Center
5% of The Secret Garden goes to ArtPush.org
10% of PROUD! goes to non-profits that provide services supporting marginalized folks in the East Bay LGBTQAI+ community
Small Businesses
10% of Boxcar Flower Farm Bouquets goes to Boxcar Flower Farm
5% of Long Lost Oakland goes to East Bay Yesterday
10% of It's Your Move goes to subsidized community programs at It's Your Move Games
