If you’re reading this on the 11th of November, take a look at www.dealeffect.ie. It officially launched at 11am this morning. And with it was launched a concept new to Ireland, a concept that could eventually change the face of charity giving in this country. You may have taken a look at www.dealeffect.ie already, of course. If so, you will have noticed that daily deals have been appearing on the site for while; there’s been a trial run going on for a couple of weeks preparatory to today’s big launch. So far, so good is the news to date. The idea of a website that combines bargain deals with a guaranteed amount (11 per cent to be precise) of the deal going back to a charity of the buyer’s choice has undoubtedly struck a chord. The next stage is about raising the volume — in both senses. The aim of the official launch is to make a bit of noise so that many more people hear about Deal Effect. But we need to raise the volume in another way. We're not expecting you to rush out (or in this case rush to the website) and buy any of the offers on the site right now. What we hope is that you’ll like the idea and sign up to hear about deals you might be interested in (and, ideally, mention Friends of Londiani as your charity of choice). If you do sign up, you’ll alert even more online retailers to the vast potential audience for special offers that boost charity funding. Your support may even encourage them to add their names to the hotels, restaurants, gyms and other groups already offering deals on the site. As we’ve hinted, we’re not alone in our support for this initiative. MS Ireland, Educate Together, the Union of Students in Ireland and Fighting Blindness are just a few of the many and varied groups that, like FOL, are backing this venture. But no, it's not an alternative to government funding. We will, as we have said before, continue to boost the efforts of Act Now and others to make our government keep its aid promise for 2015. However, Deal Effect is an ingenious way to encourage more private giving, by helping those who want to buy the occasional nice thing for themselves, but who also want to save money and do good. But Deal Effect could be more than an ingenious concept. It could be the start of something big for retailers, consumers and charitable giving. That’s why we’ve backed Deal Effect. We hope you’ll do so too.