How much of every $100 you spend locally actually stays local?

Every $100, broken down

• $10 back to you — automatic ~10% savings on local purchases.
• $4 to a local nonprofit you choose — 10% of the merchant's profit (at a ~40% average margin), at no extra cost to you.
• $53 stays local — local independents recirculate about 53% of revenue in the community versus about 14% at chains, a roughly $39 local swing per $100.

Local value per $100: Good Circles vs a national chain

What it adds up to for one household

A household routing about $200/month of local shopping through Good Circles would, in a year, save about $240, send roughly $96 to a local nonprofit, and keep about $936 of additional spending circulating in its own community — without spending a dollar more than it already does. (Modeled projection.)

Scaling it across a community

Modeled projections at the base-case assumptions below. Real figures scale with adoption, spend, and margin.

The AmazonSmile contrast

Over roughly a decade, AmazonSmile directed about 0.5% per purchase and about $449 million globally before Amazon ended it in February 2023. Good Circles' model directs about $4 per $100 — on the order of 8× the per-dollar giving rate — and it keeps the money local while paying the shopper. (Comparative estimate.)

Methodology

Nature of the estimates. The local-multiplier and AmazonSmile figures are from published third-party research. All Good Circles-specific dollar outputs are transparent modeled projections from the assumptions below — not measured results. After launch they will be replaced with real, audited platform data and the Index will be versioned.

Base-case assumptions:

• Local spend routed through Good Circles per household: $200/month ($2,400/year).
• Shopper savings: 10% of list.
• Nonprofit share: 10% of the merchant's profit at a ~40% average margin → about $4 per $100.
• Platform fee: 1% of profit (stated for completeness; not part of local/giving totals).
• Local recirculation: ~53% local independents vs ~14% chains (Civic Economics).

Formulas:

• Shopper savings = savings_rate × annual_list_spend
• Nonprofit funding ≈ 0.10 × margin × annual_spend
• Incremental local recirculation = (0.53 − 0.14) × annual_spend
• Community totals = per-household figures × participating households

Want the local numbers for your city? See the Jackson and Meridian editions, or how the model works.