HP directs portion of e-revenue to seven charities

Tech giant Hewlett-Packard is giving charitable shoppers one more reason to buy direct from its Web site as part of a new pilot program.

Under the Create Change initiative, HP will donate up to 4 percent of the purchase price for transactions completed on its HP Direct online site to one of seven non-profit organizations: American Red Cross, CARE, DonorsChoose.org, Junior Achievement, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and World Wildlife Fund. The company is allowing people to publicize the campaign on your Facebook, Twitter or MySpace profile with a special widget.

The company hasn't said how long the pilot will last, but it's a gentle nudge for anyone seeking to beef up their tax deductions.

Generally speaking, when you buy directly from a vendor's Web site, you usually wind up paying a little more than you would if you bought from one of the company's distribution channel partners. So it should interesting to whether or not the campaign kicks up HP's direct sales or whether U.S. consumers currently are too cost-conscious to really care.

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com