Sincerely’s card-giving app evolves into a charitable giving app

Sincerely is adding a charitable twist to the holiday and special occasion cards users generate with their mobile phones. Starting Thursday, customers can choose from a selection of Sincerely Giving cards on their iPhones, iPads and Android devices that are linked to specific non-profits. By paying a premium for the card, the giver places a donation to that charity in the receiver’s name.

CEO and co-founder Matt Brezina said Sincerely is starting with three non-profits, the National Breast Cancer Foundation, buildOn, and Thirst Relief International, but plans to expand the program to more. According to Brezina, Sincerely’s mission has always been to make the act of card giving more thoughtful. So far that thoughtfulness has taken the form of customization – allowing customers to insert their own photos, images and sentiments into the cards they send. Attaching a charitable donation to those cards is the next logical step, Brezina said.

Each non-profit has multiple card templates within the Sincerely Ink store, each of which can be customized with a giver’s own photos and messages. The cards run either $ 10 or $ 20, but 70 percent of that cost is giving directly to the non-profit selected. As with Sincerely’s regular cards, which start at $ 1.69 $ 1.99 for U.S. addresses, the San Francisco startup prints out each card and mails it to its intended recipient.

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