COMMUNITY ENGAGE CREATES BREAKTHROUGH IN FUNDRAISING FOR MINOR HOCKEY

 
Program launches in Ottawa market, enabling sports teams and associations to raise much
needed funds while local businesses can now offer targeted promotions to hockey families

Ottawa, ON, November 2, 2011 – Community Engage, an Ottawa-based social commerce company, has
launched an innovative new twist on the group buying trend, looking to help solve the problem of the
rising costs of hockey in Canada. With parents looking for ways to save money on hockey related
merchandise, and hockey associations wanting to offset increased registration costs and ice rentals
through fundraising initiatives, Community Engage is transforming the power of group buying into the
power of group giving.

Community Engage is connecting merchants and retailers with the lucrative and highly targeted hockey
family demographic. These vendors offer unique group buying promotions that help hockey families
save money on sports related merchandise and other relevant products and services. All sales of the
group buy coupons are tracked and 12.5% of all sales are given back to the team or association
conducting the fundraising.

“In order for minor hockey fundraising to be effective it needs to be simple, safe, and hassle-free. We
believe that tapping into the group buying power of hockey families and the passion Canadians have for
the game is one way to address the escalating costs associated with playing hockey,” said Craig
Doornbos, Partner, Community Engage. “At the same time, retailers are eager to reach the targeted
demographic of hockey families with special offers and promotions.”

A study conducted this year by Harris/Decima, revealed that with approximately 577,000 youth playing
hockey this year, about 1/2 half of parents expect to spend more than $1,000 on their child’s hockey
activities this year. Two of the most significant costs are related to team/league enrollment fees as well
as travel costs associated with league and tournament play.

“The toughest part of being a team coach or manager is getting parents to reach into their wallet to pay
for additional costs. I have heard from other managers that some families simply can’t afford to pay,”
said Rob Meekin, Team Manager for his son’s Minor Novice A hockey team in the Leitrim Minor Hockey
Association. “We see Community Engage as a real win-win. Parents and friends can receive great
discounts from well-known local businesses. And as a team, we can use the funds to help pay for ice
rentals, tournament costs, and registration fees. The goal is to lessen the burden on parents.”

“We view ourselves as a community focussed business, so when the guys from Community Engage
approached us we were very receptive” said Rob Raistrick, Owner, Barrhaven Source for Sports. “We
have used a generic group buying site successfully in the past but we are, quite frankly, more excited
about targeting a specific demographic and about giving back to local minor hockey teams at the same
time”.

The service launches this week in Ottawa with plans to expand to communities across the country. The
first deals include 50% off at Barrhaven Source for Sports, Hockey Wash, Popeye’s Supplements, Play it
Again Sports and the special offers are open to all residents of Ottawa region. Several associations and
hundreds of teams have signed on for the fundraising element, positively impacting more than 5,000
youth players in the Ottawa area.

About Community Engage
A social commerce company, Community Engage designs creative programs to allow community owners
to better engage with their community members utilizing the latest in web and social media
technologies. The company introduces highly relevant vendors to each community. The success of any
program is evaluated on the relationships that are created and/or solidified among the three stake
holders (community owners, community members and vendors). Community Engage works principally
with groups that have a fundraising objective.