Pasadena Mom Starts Daily Deal Website That Donates To Charity

PASADENA (CBS) — Many people have dreamed about it and Carie Salter actually went ahead and gave up her high-powered career to do good for others.

Salter is a stay-at-home mother that raises money full-time for charities.

"I was in middle school when I first got involved in philanthropy," Salter said. "I ran a canned food drive at my school and it made me realize even the smallest actions could make a big difference in people's lives."

Salter credits her grandfather, who regularly volunteered, with influencing her altruistic spirit.

The Stanford and Harvard graduate continued volunteering through school but found it hard to make the time once she started working full time.

"I missed that other side of my personality where I felt fulfilled by doing philanthropy and I really didn't have time to do that when I was working," Salter said.

Salter noticed how popular daily deal sites, like Groupon and Living Social, were becoming and wondered if she could use that business model to create a daily deal site that would donate its revenue to charity.

That's how "Social Goodies" was born.

The website offers a guilt-free shopping experience. When you buy a deal on the site 20 percent of the purchase price goes to charity.

"Now that I'm running 'Social Goodies' I'm very intellectually stimulated but also feeling very fulfilled personally, which is just the best combination," Salter said.

Each charity is rigorously evaluated for a 501(c)(3) status and a minimum operating budget.

Currently, the site's featured charities are Teach For America, Doctors Without Borders and The Nature Conservancy.