Poll Shows Shift in Charitable Giving towards Microdonations

The state of the economy has resulted in Americans scaling back their charitable donations this year. According to the Coinstar National Currency Poll on microdonation trends, 92 percent of those polled donated money to charity in the last 12 months, however a quarter (25 percent) say their donations were smaller than the year before. Microdonations are on the rise as people are looking for ways to donate that fit their budgets and Coinstar is providing the much needed service as shown through the more than $30 million donated through its Coins that Count _® program since its inception in 1997.

“Every penny counts for an organization like ours and while individual donations through Coinstar _® may be small, they add up in a big way,” says Terry Macko, vice president and chief marketing officer at World Wildlife Fund. “Our relationship with Coinstar has allowed us to benefit from the generosity of a wide group of individuals who might not otherwise know how they can support us. We look forward to continued success through this relationship and continued support for our conservation work around the world from Coinstar users.” Since 2003 nearly $500,000 has been donated to World Wildlife Fund through Coinstar Center _® kiosks.

“While larger donations may be down for non-profit organizations across the country, microdonations made through Coinstar increased year-over-year, demonstrating the willingness of Americans to donate their small change,” says Mike Skinner, president of Coin at Coinstar, Inc. To date in 2009, $4.5 million has been donated through Coinstar Center kiosks, versus $4.3 million in total in 2008.

Consumers Willing to Give More. Eighty-seven percent of Americans would consider making small monetary donations to charity throughout the year if it was a simpler process.

• Improved Donation Process. Of the respondents willing to make smaller donations, three-quarters (75 percent) feel they would donate if they could make the contribution easily, while 70 percent would donate if no minimum donation amount was required.
• Motivating Factors. Six in ten (60 percent) admit they would consider the donation if they could use the contribution as a write-off during tax season. Others would think about making small contributions throughout the year if they had the option of a one-time only donation (52 percent) or if they could give money anonymously (47 percent). Nearly four in ten (37 percent) would like to have the option of selecting multiple charities to donate to at one time.

Coinstar makes it easy to donate to a variety of non-profits and provides a tax-deductible receipt for those who need the extra incentive to give this holiday season. Coinstar is proud to work with a number of national non-profit organizations including American Red Cross, Feeding America, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, March of Dimes, the U.S. Fund for UNICEF and World Wildlife Fund, in addition to select regional non-profit organizations. To find out what organizations you can donate to via Coinstar Centers in your community, go to www.coinstar.com.

About the Coinstar Currency Poll

The Coinstar Currency Poll on economic trends was conducted by Kelton Research using random digit dialing of listed and unlisted numbers. Quotas are set to ensure reliable and accurate representation of the total U.S. population ages 18 and over. Results of any sample are subject to sampling variation. The magnitude of the variation is measurable and is affected by the number of interviews and the level of the percentages expressing the results. In this particular study, the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result does not vary, plus or minus, by more than 3.1 percentage points from the result that would be obtained if interviews had been conducted with all persons in the universe represented by the sample.

About Coinstar, Inc.

Coinstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSTR) is a leading provider of automated retail solutions offering convenient products and services that make life easier for consumers and drive incremental traffic and revenue for its retailers. The Company’s core automated retail businesses are self-service coin counting and self-service DVD rental. Other Coinstar products and services include e-payment products – such as gift cards, prepaid debit cards and other prepaid products – and money transfer services. The Company’s products and services can be found at more than 90,000 points of presence including supermarkets, drug stores, mass merchants, financial institutions, convenience stores, restaurants, and money transfer agents. For more information, visit www.coinstar.com.

^* All decimals are rounded to the nearest percentage point. This may result in certain numerical totals adding up to slightly more or slightly less than 100%.

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