This holiday season, a local company is offering businesses a new way to save money and also donate to a good cause through the growing use of e-cards.

A partnership has been created between cardcommunications, a firm specializing in e-marketing programs, and H'Art of Ottawa, an innovative art and literacy non-profit group helping adult artists with developmental disabilities.

They two organizations are selling electronic versions of H'Art's printed line of holiday cards with the proceeds from each e-card order going to the non-profit group. Three different versions of the e-cards are available, featuring colourful paintings of a Byward Market scene in the winter, holiday candles or a whimsical view of three cats sitting on a fence.

"H'Art of Ottawa wanted to meet the growing interest for an electronic version of our unique holiday card designs," says Claire Leduc-Fletcher, H'Art of Ottawa chairwoman. "Cardcommunications has created wonderful electronic designs that we are very pleased to offer along side our traditional cards."

The growing popularity of e-cards can be attributed to the fact they offer companies a new way to manage shrinking marketing budgets and resources.

"Traditional holiday cards are always popular, but e-cards offer businesses an easy and cost-effective alternative," says Carolyn Gardner, founder and president of cardcommunications. "There's no postage to pay, no stamps to lick, no envelopes to stuff and if you've left this to the last minute, e-cards can come to the rescue."

She says for the same price as sending 150 traditional cards, companies can send up to 1,000 branded and personalized H'Art of Ottawa e-cards. While some customers may be concerned about the proper etiquette regarding printed versus electronic cards, she says one way to embrace the new trend is by sending out a mix of the two formats.

"They complement each other so it's about having a choice and being smarter with your dollars," says Ms. Gardner. "While e-cards are still fairly new, e-mail has become so mainstream and it's just an acceptable way of communicating. Maybe 20 per cent of your database receives the printed cards signed by the president, while the other 80 per cent are reached online."

Along with the cost-savings involved, businesses are also able to include a link to their website and brand each card with the company logo. Ms. Gardner also suggests firms can chose to donate their traditional holiday card budget to a charity and inform customers on the e-card about this altruistic decision.

Another benefit offered by cardcommunications is an information breakdown generated a week after the e-cards are sent.

"The report is a real bonus for businesses because once they send out the e-cards to their customers, we'll tell them how many businesses opened the messages and even who clicked through their website if they want to track that," says Ms. Gardner. "We'll also tell you what e-mail addresses bounced back and that gives you the opportunity to "clean" your list for future mailings. The e-cards can help your business while also letting you support a good cause."

For more information about ordering the holiday e-cards, visit www.cardcommunications.ca or www.hartofottawa.ca