Free and Discounted Products

Merchants offer free or specially discounted products to Chapters and SIGs as units of ICG as a U.S. 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization. This page lists those currently available. Check back often. We will continue reaching out to merchants who offer products of interest, and post information about them here.

Merchants may require proof of non-profit status. This usually includes proof of ICG’s 501(c)(3) non-profit status and proof of ICG affiliation. You can access the ICG’s U.S. 501(c)(3) non-profit determination letter here. Contact the ICG Recording Secretary to request a proof of affiliation letter. Participating Group Exemption Letter (GEL) Chapters and SIGs may be able to present their GEL participation letter and tax payer ID (TID) instead.

If you know of merchants who offer free or discounted products to units of non-profit organizations like the ICG, please send information about the discount to webmaster@costume.org. If your Chapter or SIG regularly buys from a merchant, we encourage you to ask them about offering a discount, and refer them to this page.

Free Conference Call

Conference calling and meeting services

FreeConferenceCalling provides a free conference calling service that enables users participate in a audio conference call from their computer, land line or cell phone. A web based interface enables the moderator and computer-based participants to see who is participating. Audio can be recorded, downloaded, and archived. This is ideal for Chapter or SIG meetings where participants cannot meet at the same place.

Also available is an online meeting service for up to 25 computer-based users that includes screen sharing. The shared screen and audio can be recorded, downloaded, and archived. This is idea for educational uses such as courses or presentations on costuming topics.

Chapters and SIGs must register individually with Free Conference Calling to be eligible for a free account. Users who join by landline or cell phone are responsible for their carrier’s long-distance charges.

Type: Free unlimited conference calls or meetings.
Availability: World-wide through the MailChimp website
Web page: FreeConferenceCall.com

MailChimp

Email campaign manamgent services

MailChimp is an email campaign mamangement service that enables Chapters and SIGs to manage multiple email lists and send emails to members and other in the costuming community. Emails can be built from pre-existing campaign templates, or built from scratch. It provides in-depth reporting on how each of your email campaignss is performing. Their tools help you learn more about subscribers and send them timely, relevant content.

Chapters and SIGs must register individually with MailChimp to be eligible for a free account.

Type: Free for up to 12000 messages to up to 200 subscribers per year
Availability: World-wide through the MailChimp website
Web page: http://www.mailchimp.org

PayPal

Online payment services

PayPal enables 501(c)(3) non-profits and their units accept online payments by credit card or funds funds transfer. Non-profits receive a discounted rate of 1.9% plus $0.30 per transaction. Chapters and SIGs can use PayPal to collect membership dues, payments for events, and donations, and to pay for goods and services from online merchants. who accept PayPal.

Chapters and SIGs must register individually with PayPal to be eligible for discounts. The IGG non-profit determination letter, proof of ICG affiliation, and other documentation is required. See Getting Started Tips for Chapters and SIGs for details.

Type: Discount
Availability: World-wide through the PayPal website
Web page: https://www.paypal.comaypal.

SurveyMonkey

Online survey management services

SurveyMonkey is an online survey service that enables Chapters and SIGs to create surveys and get feedback from members about a range of topics, from preferences for upcoming events, to handling the event registration process, to getting feedback about past events. The service also includes tools for analyzing results and creating reports.

Chapters and SIGs must register individually with SurveyMonkey to be eligible for a free account.

Type: Free
Availability: World-wide through the SurveyMonkey website
Web page: http://www.surveymonkey.org

TechSoup

Software, hardware, and IT services

TechSoup is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides donated and discounted software and hardware products and IT services to non-profits like the ICG from partners like Microsoft, Adobe, Cisco, Intuit, and Symantec. They also provde access resources, including articles, blogs, webinars, and forums led by expert hosts. TechSoup charges an administrative fee for each donation or discount request.

Chapters and SIGs must register individually with TechSoup to be eligible for discounts. The IGG non-profit determination letter and proof of ICG affiliation is required.

Helpful hint: When registering, a chapter or SIG, initially fill in ICG address and EIN (52-1656188) as the parent organization, then the chapter or SIG information and EIN. We recommend using Organization type: “Cultural, Historical or Other Educational Activities,” and subtype: “Arts education” since those are the ones for the ICG as parent organization.

Type: Discount
Availability: World-wide through the TechSoup website
Web page: http://www.techsoup.org