Fundraising
Business Wire | September 28, 2023
At today’s Global Citizen Festival, Give Lively, a ground-breaking nonprofit fundraising platform, and Shift4, the leader in integrated payments and commerce technology, announced a partnership to the significant benefit of nonprofit organizations across the United States, too many of them burdened by cumbersome and expensive fundraising platforms.
Give Lively, which builds powerful and practical fundraising solutions that are free for nonprofits and intuitive for donors, will add Shift4 as a payment processor, offering some of the lowest transaction fees available while maintaining a secure, reliable transaction experience. Set to launch in 2024, the integration will also expand donation processing capabilities to include stocks and top cryptocurrencies, powered by The Giving Block, a Shift4 company.
“At Give Lively, we believe that nonprofits shouldn’t sacrifice their means to satisfy their missions, and that giving should be intuitive and joyful for donors,” said David DeParolesa, CEO of Give Lively. "This exciting partnership with Shift4 is a huge win for both donors and nonprofits. It will bring lower costs and more giving options to donors, as well as new tools that simplify giving for our 8,600 – and growing! – member nonprofits, allowing everyone to spend less time navigating complexities and more time making a difference."
“As we’ve experienced in the payments industry for some time, donation methods are changing rapidly,” said Jared Isaacman, Founder & CEO of Shift4. “Nonprofits, like many other businesses, want the ability to accommodate their donors' preferences. We believe that if you make it easy and affordable for nonprofits to adopt these modern donation methods, they will grow faster. That’s what this partnership with Give Lively is all about.”
The partnership announcement was made at the Global Citizen Festival in keeping with both organizations’ foundational commitment to social good. Give Lively ensures that all nonprofits approved for membership align with its progressive values focused on elevating marginalized voices, striving to meet the needs of the underserved, imagining a safer future and advocating for equality.
The partnership is also the latest effort by Isaacman to do more in the nonprofit sector, where he has a long history of philanthropy. In 2021, he commanded Inspiration4, the first all-civilian mission to orbit, which served as a groundbreaking fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, raising over $250 million for the charity including over $100 million donated by Isaacman. The following year, Shift4 acquired fundraising platform The Giving Block to expand the company’s capabilities serving the nonprofit sector.
About Shift4
Shift4 is boldly redefining commerce by simplifying complex payments ecosystems across the world. As the leader in commerce-enabling technology, Shift4 powers billions of transactions annually for hundreds of thousands of businesses in virtually every industry. For more information, visit shift4.com.
About Give Lively
Give Lively is a tech company reimagining the future of digital fundraising for nonprofits – powerful, practical and free. It builds easy-to-use fundraising solutions that are free for nonprofits and intuitive for donors, all while staying true to progressive values. Nonprofits using Give Lively have raised more than $750 million for their critical work, saving $45+ million in tech fees and charges.
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Fundraising
Business Wire | September 12, 2023
charity: water, a nonprofit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people around the world, today announced the launch of a grassroots fundraising campaign as it accelerates its mission to end the global water crisis. Running in the United States throughout September 2023, the campaign will galvanize participation and activity with limited-edition merchandise, product discounts, and unique experiences fundraisers can unlock as they raise money to help more people get clean water. Notably, fundraisers will also have the opportunity to apply for an all-expenses-paid trip with the charity: water team to meet their local partners and see the impact of clean water for themselves.
“We’ve brought clean water to more than 17 million people in just under two decades, but the fact remains that over 700 million still lack consistent access to one of life’s most basic needs: water,” said Brady Josephson, VP of Marketing & Growth at charity: water. “We know and have seen that people, usually women and girls, will do whatever it takes to get clean water when they don’t have it. This campaign will rally our community of supporters to do something, anything, to fundraise in the month of September, with 100% of all donations directly helping more people get this life-changing gift.”
At the end of the campaign, the fundraiser who raises the most will win a trip for two to New York City to attend charity: water’s annual event to hear stories of impact, meet founder Scott Harrison, and connect with other supporters. The top five fundraisers will receive a year’s worth of free coffee from Volcanica Coffee and a pair of shoes from On. And as soon as anyone raises more than $40 — enough to provide clean water to one person — they’ll begin to unlock merchandise and discounts from Just Fun Socks, Corkcicle, and Solgaard, in addition to charity: water. These rewards and experiences are made possible due to in-kind donations and charity: water’s unique funding model. A group of private donors, called The Well, covers all operating expenses — including its New York event, the field trip, and merchandise. This enables every penny donated or fundraised by the public to directly fund water projects.
Any donor who raises at least $1 in September and/or is an active member of The Spring, charity: water’s monthly giving community, will be invited to submit an application to see how their fundraising is making a difference firsthand. Applications and interviews will be conducted by the charity: water team to choose two participants for the trip in 2024.
“Earlier this year we asked our supporters what would most inspire them to fundraise for clean water, and the resounding answer was the ability to see their impact through our work,” Josephson continued. “Thanks to our partners and Well members we are in a position to offer this opportunity to anyone who fundraises, not just the individual who raises the most. We believe every fundraiser deserves to see how they are personally making an impact and wanted to make this once-in-a-lifetime chance available to all.”
About charity: water
charity: water is a nonprofit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people around the world. With powerful storytelling and a radically transparent model that ensures 100% of every public donation funds clean water, charity: water has mobilized supporters from more than 150 countries to help end the water crisis. They work exclusively with experienced local partners to build sustainable, community-owned water projects and prove each one with innovative technology. Since 2006 in New York and 2017 in London, charity: water has funded over 135,000 water projects in nearly 30 countries to help more than 17.4 million people get access to clean water, hygiene, and improved sanitation.
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Financial Management
PR Newswire | August 24, 2023
Stearns Bank N.A. recently launched its Nonprofit Banking Solutions, a suite of customized banking services and financing options designed specifically to meet the unique needs of nonprofits.
Stearns Bank's Nonprofit Banking Solutions was developed to benefit its fast-growing, diverse nonprofit customer base across the nation, inspired in collaboration with its third-party nonprofit fintech partner. Stearns Bank's experienced team of Nonprofit Banking Specialists delivers high-touch personalized service, custom-designed nonprofit banking services, and creative financing options for nonprofits. With this new launch, Stearns Bank is transforming banking services and financing for nonprofits nationwide.
Additionally, to further its commitment and support of nonprofits, Stearns Bank will donate $1,000 to each nonprofit organization that maintains one or more active Nonprofit Banking Solutions accounts for a full 12 months, with recurring donations following each active 12-month period.
"At Stearns Bank, we have extensive experience with nonprofits and a keen understanding of the vast diversity among nonprofits across the country – each has a distinctive mission and goal along with differing operational demands, varying capital capacity and financing needs, and evolving donation and revenue streams," said Kelly Skalicky, President and CEO of Stearns Bank.
Skalicky explains that customizing banking services and financing options for nonprofits requires a paradigm shift and the fundamental understanding that one size does not fit all.
"With a wholehearted commitment to answering the call of each nonprofit – large or small – and tailoring our banking services and financing options to meet the needs of our nonprofits on an individualized basis, Stearns Bank is putting our money where our mouth is," Skalicky said. "We're thrilled to deliver a unique suite of banking services and financing options through our Nonprofit Banking Solutions, while also contributing an annual cash donation to support the work and mission of these customers."
Among the many features offered with Stearns Bank's Nonprofit Banking Solutions are unique financing options, customized credit cards, and high-yield interest-bearing deposit accounts. With a wide range of free services, nonprofits achieve substantial savings and can customize their debit cards with the nonprofit name and logo. Stearns Bank's special nonprofit accounts also feature free unlimited mobile deposits, free checks, unlimited same-day and next-day ACH origination, free unlimited incoming wires, free outgoing wires (one fee wire per day), free international wires (five free international wires per month) and more! There are also no minimum balance requirements, no hidden fees, no maintenance fees and no inactivity fees.
With the convenience of online and mobile banking, plus account access and management available 24/7, nonprofits across the country finally have a suite of specially designed Nonprofit Banking Solutions they deserve to empower their nonprofit, boost their bottom line, and fuel their financial growth.
About Stearns Bank N.A.
Minnesota-based Stearns Bank National Association is a $2.2 billion, independently-owned financial institution with locations in Minnesota, Florida and Arizona, and over 35,000 small business customers nationwide, in every state across the U.S. Recognized as having a bullet-proof balance sheet with 25% capital and earning top rankings as one of the nation's highest-performing banks by American Banker, and most recently ranked fourth in the U.S. among banks having more than $1 billion in assets by Independent Banker's 2023 Best of the Best ranking of banks with the highest 3-year average Return on Assets, Stearns Bank specializes in nationwide affordable housing, workforce and multifamily housing, commercial construction lending, build-to-suit and CRE-repositioning lending, family office and lender financing, USDA and SBA lending, and small business and equipment financing. Driven by a passion to help others achieve their greatest ambitions, Stearns Bank's mission is to Get the Job Done!
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Philanthropy
PR Newswire | September 21, 2023
Vanguard Charitable, a leading U.S. grantmaker and trusted sponsor of donor-advised funds (DAFs), has launched Grant Payments with PayPal, enabling charities to receive funds from grantmakers faster and more easily. The initiative addresses the longstanding use of physical checks in charitable grantmaking, a method hampered by mail delays and administrative burdens for receiving charities. To address this problem for all nonprofits, Vanguard Charitable and National Philanthropic Trust (NPT) closely collaborated with PayPal. Grant Payments allows eligible nonprofits to accept and receive electronic funds for grants up to $10 million at no cost to the charity or grantmaker.
"For a long time, grantmakers have acknowledged the shortcomings of sending funds via paper check, but there was no easy, secure, and charity-friendly solution to address the grantmaking space as a whole," said Rebecca Moffett, president of Vanguard Charitable. "We—Vanguard Charitable, National Philanthropic Trust, and PayPal—saw an opportunity to bring together leaders in their respective fields so that charities across the country could receive funds in a simple, secure, and much faster way – ultimately helping to drive their respective missions forward."
Since Vanguard Charitable's launch of Grant Payments in May of 2023, Vanguard Charitable donors have electronically granted more than $130 million to more than 400 eligible charities.1 More than 30,000 additional charities are currently eligible to receive funds via Grant Payments from Vanguard Charitable. Since May, Vanguard Charitable's total percentage of grants distributed by methods other than a physical check increased more than elevenfold when compared to the same period the year before. Funds sent by Vanguard Charitable via Grant Payments arrive within one day of the receiving charity accepting the grant, and, in one case, in as little as one minute and forty-three seconds.2 In another instance, a charity accepted a $6 million electronic grant with ease. There are no fees for any grants sent via this method.3
"As an organization that relies heavily on volunteers, any opportunity MANNA has to simplify processing donations and grants is incredibly valuable," said Amy Mansky, MPH, director of advancement at MANNA, a charity that uses nutrition to improve health for people with serious illnesses who need nourishment to heal. "With electronic Grant Payments, MANNA staff don't need to open a piece of mail or pass a check from department to department to process. The money is in our account within a couple of clicks."
The benefits of Grant Payments were particularly visible in the aftermath of the recent Maui wildfires. Of the $3.7 million that Vanguard Charitable donors issued in grants in the three weeks following the fires, 57% was sent electronically and arrived within a day of the grant's approval. For local organizations whose offices were destroyed or who weren't receiving mail, this proved a major boost in serving a community in need.
While individual donors are already able to give electronically via credit card, on charity websites, and even in the checkout line, these donations are generally smaller than ones made via a donor-advised fund and are diminished by service fees. Donor-advised fund giving, meanwhile, topped $45 billion in 2021 (the latest year on record), meaning that a significant portion of nonprofits' total donations has continued to come via physical check.
"PayPal Grant Payments drives efficiency for grantmakers and charities by offering a granting solution to digitally send and receive grants quickly, efficiently and securely," said Michael Budwig, Senior Director of Product for Giving at PayPal. "By implementing PayPal Grant Payments, Vanguard Charitable is able to help more than 200,000 PayPal confirmed charities receive electronic grants, streamlining and simplifying what has historically been a much more manual and drawn-out process."
"When donors recommend a grant, they rely on Vanguard Charitable's thorough due diligence to give them peace of mind. Now they can also count on those funds reaching an eligible charity more quickly," said Ann Gill, chief philanthropic officer at Vanguard Charitable. "Grant Payments offers a long-awaited solution to grantee organizations who want to avoid the hassle of waiting for and processing physical checks and instead use those dollars more quickly to uplift their communities."
About Vanguard Charitable
Vanguard Charitable is a leading U.S. nonprofit organization that fulfills its mission to increase philanthropic giving by administering a donor-advised fund—a tax-effective way to consolidate, accrue, and grant assets to charity. Since it was founded by Vanguard4 in 1997 as an independent 501(c)(3) organization, Vanguard Charitable has granted more than $17 billion to charity. More information is available at www.vanguardcharitable.org.
About PayPal
PayPal has remained at the forefront of the digital payment revolution for more than 20 years. By leveraging technology to make financial services and commerce more convenient, affordable, and secure, the PayPal platform is empowering 429 million consumers and merchants in more than 200 markets to join and thrive in the global economy. For more information, visit www.paypal.com.
About National Philanthropic Trust
Founded in 1996, National Philanthropic Trust (NPT) is the largest national, independent public charity that manages donor-advised funds and one of the leading grantmaking institutions in the U.S. Since its founding, NPT has raised more than $49.8 billion in charitable funding and has made more than 640,000 grants exceeding $25.7 billion to nonprofits around the world. NPT annually publishes the Donor-Advised Fund Report, the sector's authority on the state of DAF philanthropy. Visit NPT's resource library to learn what you can do with a DAF and about NPT's impact investing options. More at NPTrust.org and NPTGivingPoint.org.
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