Candles for Hope was founded in 2011. At its core is a corporate philanthropy program that we call “Leave Some Light, Light Some Hope”.
Candles For Hope provides an online service for people who wish to honor those who have passed away. By lighting a virtual candle on www.mycandles.org, anybody can Leave Some Light for those whose memory they wish to honor.
Through our corporate philanthropy program we direct all of our profits to help established charities Light Some Hope by providing vital services to those in need.
To engage our customers in our philanthropic program, we invite everybody who lights a candle to suggest which charities they want us to support. Candles For Hope gives exclusively to causes that are registered charities in the countries where they are based.
It costs $1 (or local currency equivalent) to light each candle on www.mycandles.org. Candles will burn for a year.
From each $1 that you pay, we receive a maximum of 90% (there is a 10% transaction fee, and sometimes currency exchange fees). From the money we receive, we deduct our operating costs and the remaining funds are directed to our Corporate Philanthropy Program.
In the first few months of operation, the amount given through our Corporate Philanthropy Program will be a minimum of 50% of the price you pay for each candle lit. However, as the number of candles grows we expect to direct 75% of the price of a candle to your chosen charities.
Customers can recommend a charity not on our list by completing the form on our Charities page.
Please feel free to contact me at ian.smith@mycandles.org and let me know how we can improve the site?
I'm looking forward to hearing from you, thank you.
Ian Smith, Founder, Candles for Hope