There are a lot of non-profits out there and most of them are struggling for economic survival. For those of us who donate to charity, it’s sometimes hard to figure out the best way to do so. Our own finances may not be in a position where a regular monthly donation of a fixed amount (the most common choice) is possible and after a couple of months of one-time giving, we may forget.
Givv.org was started by supporters of Texas Republican Ron Paul as a website to gather donations for his 2008 campaign. Seeing the potential and the need, the Austin, Texas-based entrepreneurs re-designed Givv.org, changed its focus, and launched it as a donation-gathering site for all charities.
Today, Givv.org boasts charity membership from social, political, animal rights, environmental, and almost any other you can name. Best of all, though, is its focus on the charitable contributor rather than the charity itself.
The idea is pretty simple, once you see it, and makes a lot of sense.
Logging into the site (registration is free), the givver makes a list of charities he or she would like to donate to on a monthly basis. Then a contribution is made, through Givv.org, and distributed amongst the givver’s list. Each charity can be “ranked” to get a higher or lower percentage of the donation total and charities can be added or removed at any time before the monthly cut-off, when Givv.org disburses the funds.
For the givver, this makes for an easy, one-off transaction (rather than several, one to each charity) and also gives them a central location for their giving. Givvrs can set up a monthly, fixed donation (which can be changed at any time).
This keeps monthly budgets in check, gives charities a single one-time check to track instead of several smaller ones, and allows for privacy for the givver. For some, that last part is important. Donating to a charity requires you register a lot of information with them in order to get the tax write-off. The problem is, they usually use that information to send you a lot of stuff asking for more money. Through Givv.org, you still get the write-off, but the charities aren’t told who you are unless you allow them to see the information.
In the end, Givv.org is a win-win for everyone involved. As a bonus, a higher percentage of the donation goes to the individual charities, since the credit card or e-check processing fees are only collected once (when you use Givv.org) versus several times (once for each charity). Givv.org is, itself, a non-profit, takes no fees from the transaction outside of their own credit card/e-check processing costs.
Definitely a great site worth supporting.
