e-Commerce Development for Latin American Artisans

Dear Supporter,

As we begin July, the SoulGives team is happy to report on an incredible first half of the year. Our e-commerce site, soulgives.org, now hosts the largest collection of handcrafted products we’ve ever offered—each representing the talent and creativity of our artisan and grower communities throughout Latin America. The newly redesigned site is not only faster and easier to navigate, but it’s also more intuitive, helping visitors quickly find what interests them.

One of the most exciting additions is a dedicated catalog page for every artisan and grower, complete with background stories, visual content, and rich descriptions that detail their craft and culture.

In response to feedback from our producers, we’ve invested in two new support initiatives: professional advice on product labeling to align with USDA standards, and social media training to help them amplify their presence online. These improvements were made possible through generous donations from our supporters.

Another tangible example of your impact is a new electric pottery wheel that was purchased for one of our Costa Rican potters. Until now, they had only used manual wheels. This upgrade has made their work more efficient and less physically taxing. While this small-motor wheel is ideal for creating smaller items, we hope that with continued success, they'll soon be able to afford a larger model capable of shaping bigger pieces.

Finally, we’re proud to announce that customers can now leave reviews directly on the site. If you’ve ever purchased something from SoulGives, we warmly invite you to share your experience and help others discover the soul behind each product.

Looking ahead, we will begin using the Google Ad Grant funding we were awarded—up to $10,000 per month in advertising credits—to promote our creators and their amazing work to a wider audience. If you happen to see one of our ads online, we hope you’ll click through and take a look.

Hello Supporter,

I personally am so glad when an election year is complete, mostly because I tire of all the advertisements. I heard that realtors are especially happy, because most people don't purchase homes until after the election is over. I feel the same is true with purchasing anything.

The Soulgives.org website is approaching 100 products that range from ocean-themed bracelets and coin bags to large hand crafted ceramic bowls or wooden charcuterie boards. We are especially excited about our newest artisans, and we have hundrreds of thousands of them. However, they are not human, but are bees. If you check our other projects, you'll learn about the incredible bees and beekeepers that are involved with SoulGives, and I promise you'll see some amazing honey and honey-based foods coming available on the website in 2025.

These next few months will be especially exciting for the website, and we hope you'll check it out. We will be making it easier to navigate even though there will be more content, but especially it will be more visually appealing.

We will be visiting our Costa Rican friends these next few months, so we look forward to sharing some videos and photos of these wonderful people.

Our costs keep rising, but we know that God knows, and we thank him for people like you that come alongside and help.

Links:

• The SoulGives Website Home Page