Gooding

What Gooding does

Gooding GmbH is a Frankfurt-based German company that operates a charity-shopping marketplace connecting online consumers with registered nonprofit organizations. Users register on gooding.de, select from among 18,333 verified charitable organizations (Vereine), and shop at any of 2,050+ partner retailers including OTTO, eBay, zooplus, and Deutsche Bahn. Gooding earns affiliate commissions on these mediated purchases at an average rate of approximately 5%, then passes up to 100% of those commissions to the user-designated nonprofit, retaining a default 30% premium share configurable by the user from 0-100% via the Prämien-Teilen feature. The platform is free for both nonprofits and supporters, with no transaction fees for donors across SEPA, credit card, PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.

The underlying technology is a cookie-based affiliate tracking stack integrated with external affiliate networks, layered with Cidaas OAuth2 authentication, AWS/CloudFront hosting, and standard marketing tooling (Brevo email, Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel). Mobile applications under the feed a dog and feed a cat sub-brands extend the platform into in-kind pet food donations routed through strategic partner Givio gGmbH, a recognized German charitable foundation that handles collection and distribution of direct monetary and in-kind contributions.

Gooding's go-to-market is product-led and community-led: the self-serve platform requires no sales motion, and growth depends on organic word-of-mouth, social sharing, and nonprofit-driven supporter recruitment. The company also runs PR-led acquisition campaigns, notably positioning itself as an alternative to Amazon Smile following Amazon's February 2023 discontinuation. To date, the platform has facilitated approximately 2.6 million good deeds and €22.5 million in cumulative donations to charities. Gooding is privately held, bootstrapped with no disclosed venture or private equity funding, and led by founder/managing director Felix Wassermann.

Name

Gooding

Legal name

Gooding GmbH

Website

https://gooding.de

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Gooding GmbH operates a German charity-shopping marketplace connecting online shoppers with 18,333 registered nonprofits across 2,050+ partner retailers, retaining a configurable share of affiliate commissions as its primary revenue stream.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Charity Shopping Platform

NAICS

Media Buying Agencies (541830)

akta.pro primary industry

Price Comparison, Deals, Cashback & Loyalty Shopping Platforms (BPAMAGAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Affiliate & Performance Creator Programs (BPAFAHAG)

Keywords

• Charity shopping platform
• Affiliate marketing platform
• Nonprofit fundraising platform
• Online donation platform
• Cause-based commerce

Headquarters

HQ city

Frankfurt

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Affiliate Commissions: Partner online shops pay commissions for purchases mediated through the Gooding platform. Gooding passes through a portion (up to 100%) of these commissions to user-designated nonprofits. Default premium share to Gooding is 30%.
2. Premium Share Contribution: Users voluntarily contribute a portion (0-100%, default 30%) of shopping commissions to fund Gooding's platform maintenance and development
3. Advertising Revenue: Companies pay to advertise their products and services on the Gooding platform

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Gooding operates a charity shopping platform that connects online shoppers with partner retailers and registered nonprofit organizations (Vereine). When users purchase through Gooding's network of 2,050+ partner shops, a portion of the resulting affiliate commission is automatically passed on to the user-selected nonprofit, with users able to allocate 0-100% (default 30%) of the premium to Gooding or the charity. The platform also offers direct monetary donations via Givio and pet food donation apps for animal welfare organizations.

Product overview

Gooding operates as a charity shopping platform ecosystem consisting of a core web platform (Gooding.de) and mobile applications (feed a dog and feed a cat). The core platform enables users to generate charitable donations for non-profit organizations through their regular online shopping at partner e-commerce stores, with no additional cost to the user. The platform is free for both supporters and charities. The mobile apps extend this to pet food donations specifically for animal welfare organizations. Gooding acts as an intermediary, facilitating premium/commission sharing between partner shops and registered charities, with optional donation functionality powered by partner Givio.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• feed a dog: Mobile app enabling users to donate pet food to animal welfare organizations
• feed a cat

Products and services

• Gooding.de Platform Web-based charity shopping platform where consumers register, select partner shops, designate nonprofit organizations (Vereine) to receive shopping commissions, and track accumulated donations. Free for users and nonprofits, with partner shops paying commissions averaging 5% per purchase.
• feed a dog Mobile application enabling users to donate dog food directly to animal rescue organizations and shelters, with donations processed through the Givio charitable foundation. Targets animal welfare nonprofits and pet food donors.
• feed a cat Mobile application enabling users to donate cat food directly to cat rescue organizations and shelters, part of the Gooding charity ecosystem coordinated via Givio. Targets cat rescue nonprofits and cat food donors.

Quantifiable outcome

• 5% average commission vs 0.5% for Amazon Smile - 10x higher returns for nonprofits
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Amazon Smile (discontinued)minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 20 February 2023Amazon Smile program that Gooding positioned as an alternative to after Amazon discontinued their charity shopping program on February 20, 2023. Gooding actively recruited affected nonprofits from Amazon Smile.
• Givio (Givio gemeinnützige GmbH)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGivio provides the donation (spenden) functionality on Gooding's platform. As a recognized charitable foundation (steuerlich anerkannte Förderkörperschaft), Givio handles the collection and distribution of direct monetary donations to nonprofits. Located in Stuttgart, Givio manages both financial and in-kind donations (pet food) to qualifying organizations listed on Gooding.
• VikingminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartner brand mentioned in the 'Helfen mit starken Partnern' (Helping with strong partners) section of the website footer.
• Partner Online Retailers (2,050+ shops)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMajor partner shops include OTTO, eBay, zooplus, Deutsche Bahn and many others. These retailers pay commissions to Gooding for customer referrals, with a portion (up to 100%) passed through to user-designated nonprofits.
• Cidaas (WidasConcepts GmbH)coreTechnology or IntegrationOAuth2/OpenID Connect authentication and authorization service enabling secure user login and identity management for Gooding platform users.
• AWS / CloudFront (Amazon Web Services)coreTechnology or IntegrationCloud hosting and content delivery services for storing and delivering website content (images, files, scripts) through a global server network.
• Affiliate NetworkscoreTechnology or IntegrationExternal affiliate networks supporting technical tracking of mediated purchases, billing, and allocation of commissions and premiums between partner shops, users, and nonprofits.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• TopCashback: Large international cashback operator with a German site. Overlaps with Gooding on partner shop relationships and consumer cashback mechanics; differs in lacking a nonprofit-anchored value proposition.
• myWorld / CashbackWorld: Established European cashback and shopping community operating across multiple countries. While broader in scope and not charity-centric, it competes for the same affiliate-commission consumer wallet in DACH.

Direct peers

• iGraal: Major European cashback and loyalty program with strong German presence. Comparable affiliate-cashback infrastructure and partner shop network, with similar consumer-acquisition economics and overlapping retail relationships.
• Shoop: German cashback platform that also operates a charity-shopping vertical ("Shoop hilft") routing a share of user cashback to nonprofits. Directly competes with Gooding for the same German consumer shopping-commission audience and nonprofit partners.
• TheBestHack: DACH charity-shopping platform that lets users direct a portion of partner-shop commissions to chosen nonprofits. Same product mechanics, same target nonprofits and consumers, competing for the same shop integrations in Germany and Austria.

Emerging players

• betterplace.org: Germany's largest online donation platform for nonprofits. Overlaps with Gooding in helping German nonprofits raise funds, but uses direct donations rather than shopping-commission mechanics.
• HelpDirect: German online donation platform that connects donors to nonprofits. Different core mechanic (direct giving rather than shopping commissions) but overlapping nonprofit customer base and supporters.

Others

• Smile.io: Loyalty and rewards platform for ecommerce brands; architecturally analogous in turning purchases into consumer benefit programs (cashback, points) — relevant for comparing underlying mechanics even though not a charity-shopping competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/gooding_de

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Gooding