IF Partner and client, BarterPay, helps businesses across Canada become more profitable by using barter to attract new customers and offset expenses.  For more information about BarterPay visit www.barterpay.ca

This article originally appeared on NiagaraThisWeek.com.

By: Beth Audet

What if a company could take its wasted inventory and goods or lost time and services and transform that into social impact for Niagara.

What if a charity had access to the supplies they needed so they could continue offering essential services to the community.

That’s the idea behind BarterPay It Forward, a registered charity that officially launched just three weeks ago to help connect businesses with non-profits.

But to understand exactly how a pile of bricks can translate into printing or advertising for your local charity, you first need to understand how the BarterPay network works.

“We’ve essentially made a way for businesses to get things that they need without using money,” said BarterPay CEO and founder John Porter.

Instead, they can trade their own products and services — or supplies that would otherwise sit around and collect dust — for trade dollars and use those to purchase other goods or services available on the network.

“Bartering is the oldest form of commerce,” the Lincoln resident explained, but for it to work, each business has to want what the other person has at the same time and at the same value.

That doesn’t often line up when attempted organically.

The BarterPay network solves this, he said, allowing for multiple streams of bartering so everyone ends up with what they need and nothing goes to waste.

With BarterPay It Forward, businesses can now opt to donate trade dollars they’ve acquired to the foundation and receive a tax receipt in exchange.

Read the full article online at NiagaraThisWeek.com