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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Fundraising
PR Newswire | October 17, 2023
Blackbaud, the leading provider of software for powering social impact, is doubling down on its investment in the peer-to-peer (P2P) fundraising space - one of the most significant and rapidly growing sectors for fundraising today - with the next evolution of Good Move™, its activity-tracking mobile app. The development will transform the app into a powerful mobile participant center for Blackbaud TeamRaiser®, enabling a streamlined experience for participants and self-service functionality for social impact customers.
Peer-to-peer fundraising is a vital component of the philanthropic landscape, and we are committed to providing innovative solutions that empower organizations and individuals to make a difference," said Sudip Datta, chief product officer at Blackbaud. "The new capabilities within Good Move represent our ongoing dedication to supporting the peer-to-peer fundraising community. We look forward to the positive impact these enhancements will have on the fundraising efforts of organizations globally.
Good Move, which launched in 2023 as an activity-tracking mobile app designed for TeamRaiser, has been a game-changer in the world of fundraising, allowing organizations to create custom wellness events that go beyond traditional walk, run and cycling. With Good Move, participants can record various activities, from pickleball to water sports to mindful minutes and more.
With this significant upgrade, customers will now have the ability to adopt a mobile app experience for events where activity-tracking is not applicable. Organizations can now create campaigns that focus solely on fundraising, without losing the "gamification" experience and P2P tools needed to sustain engagement. Customers can also now seamlessly attach Good Move-powered capabilities to existing TeamRaiser events from their TeamRaiser administrative portal. This self-service model streamlines event management, saving organizations time and resources while enhancing their fundraising capabilities.
For information on new capabilities in TeamRaiser and Good Move, attend the next Blackbaud Product Update Briefings, November 14-16. Registration opens October 13. For existing TeamRaiser customers interested in learning more about the new Good Move capabilities, please contact your Customer Success Manager. For any organization not already a TeamRaiser customer that is looking to further understand the power of TeamRaiser and Good Move, please click here.
About Blackbaud
Blackbaud is the leading software provider exclusively dedicated to powering social impact. Serving the nonprofit and education sectors, companies committed to social responsibility and individual change makers, Blackbaud's essential software is built to accelerate impact in fundraising, nonprofit financial management, digital giving, grantmaking, corporate social responsibility and education management. With millions of users and over $100 billion raised, granted or managed through Blackbaud platforms every year, Blackbaud's solutions are unleashing the potential of the people and organizations who change the world. Blackbaud has been named to Newsweek's list of America's Most Responsible Companies, Quartz's list of Best Companies for Remote Workers, and Forbes' list of America's Best Employers. A remote-first company, Blackbaud has operations in the United States, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica and the United Kingdom, supporting users in 100+ countries.
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Fundraising
PR Newswire | October 12, 2023
Bloomerang, the complete donor relationship management and volunteer management platform for thousands of small and medium-sized nonprofits, announces Tap to Pay to help nonprofits capture donations and donor information easily to supercharge in-person event fundraising results. Tap to Pay lets donors just tap their credit card or digital wallet to a phone equipped with the Bloomerang Mobile App. This latest fundraising capability enables nonprofits to accept donations anywhere, eliminates the need for inconvenient hardware, and provides more ways for nonprofits to meet their donors where they are.
The COVID-19 pandemic decreased use of cash and checks and increased the use of contactless payments, like digital wallets. Additionally, with younger generations' preference for digital wallets, nonprofits need to implement new fundraising technologies to streamline the donation experience, capture donations easily in any format, and enable donors to give when they're inspired.
"We're thrilled to be the first donor and volunteer management platform to deliver Tap to Pay to market–connecting nonprofits with the next generation of donors, making it easier for them to raise funds and engage with new donors," said Dennis Fois, chief executive officer of Bloomerang. "Our 2023 Fundraising Planning and Climate Report found nonprofits' staffing constraints is one of the most important factors in determining fundraising performance. Tap to Pay helps nonprofits to raise more, faster, at fundraising events to maximize their impact."
Using Tap to Pay, nonprofits can:
Save time:Eliminatemanual data entry and process donations faster to save time for both the nonprofit and the donor–a key pain point for payment processing.
Increase giving:Meet donors where they are and offer preferred payment methods sononprofits never have to say "no" to a potential gift.
Strengthen relationships:Acknowledge and nurture donors and support their stewardship efforts more easily with data flowing automatically from the Bloomerang mobile app into the Bloomerang CRM.
Tammy Hammond, chief product officer at Bloomerang, said, "We know that for nonprofits, building relationships with donors often happens in person and in the moment. We are excited to bring Tap to Pay functionality to our customers to more easily and simply process donations and record the transactions from their mobile phone at the point of interaction."
Built on the Bloomerang Donor Management platform and PCI-compliant Bloomerang Payments processor, Tap to Pay's functionality supports donations through credit cards or digital wallets, including Apple Pay and Google Pay. It will be generally available for this year's giving season and is free with Bloomerang Payments. Fundraisers can utilize Tap to Pay on any NFC-enabled Android device or iPhone XS and later using the Bloomerang mobile app.
This latest innovation supports Bloomerang's vision to deliver the fundraising platform of the future. Bloomerang recently launched Bloomerang Volunteer, following its acquisition of InitLive in March 2023, to expand nonprofits' relationships with supporters. The integration of Bloomerang's donor management platform and volunteer management platform offers a comprehensive view of supporter engagement in one place.
About Bloomerang
Indianapolis-based Bloomerang is the complete donor relationship management solution that helps thousands of small and medium-sized nonprofits deliver a better giving experience and create stable, thriving organizations. Combining robust, simple-to-use technology with people-powered support and training, Bloomerang empowers nonprofits to work efficiently, improve their donor relationships and grow their donor bases. With Bloomerang, nonprofit professionals love their work and have another teammate in the cause.
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Philanthropy
PR Newswire | September 26, 2023
Catchafire, the leading online volunteer platform, proudly announces a remarkable milestone in its ongoing mission to supercharge nonprofit work with skilled and highly motivated volunteer talent. To date, Catchafire has facilitated over $250 million in savings for nonprofits, reinforcing its commitment to driving both philanthropic impact and value for funders.
"Our success metrics demonstrate that Catchafire is powering the important work of nonprofits and saving them precious monetary resources at the same time," said Matt Miszewski, CEO of Catchafire. "Through enabling nonprofit work by harnessing the potential of skilled volunteers we not only ensure important philanthropic work is carried out, but we also drive unmatched value for donating and funding organizations through our partnerships."
Catchafire Impact Metrics (to date):
Nonprofit Value Created:$251,972,481
Total Hours Donated:1,303,945
Current Active Nonprofits:12,566
Total Volunteer Applications:341,272
Catchafire continues to grow its network of nonprofit organizations, volunteers, foundations, and corporate donors, with a commitment to fostering meaningful connections that ultimately improve the lives and communities of many. As the platform expands, the potential for even greater savings and philanthropic impact is possible.
If you are a grantmaker or a corporate donor looking to maximize the impact of your funding, contact Catchafire to set up an informational meeting to discuss your needs.
About Catchafire
Catchafire is a place for people to come together and do good. Catchafire brings together government, philanthropy, business, and volunteers with the goal of bridging paths to stronger communities. We have been shifting skills and resources to communities across the country for over a decade. Every day, we help communities grow stronger by listening to what they need and making sure they get those resources. We are the leading online platform for nonprofits to connect with everyday professionals—our team has helped nonprofits create over $250 million dollars in value, with over 1 million volunteer hours donated. Learn more at catchafire.org.
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