Okay, we’re all about housekeeping today.
And I don’t know about the rest of you, but I totally wear heels and grin like this when I have a sinkful of dishes.
Bear with me. I just gotta get this stuff out there this week because I’m sure there’s a million questions, and then we’ll get back to our regularly scheduled program.
*If you are new to my blog, this post won’t make a lick of sense. Read these two posts first, k? Kay.*
How will the money be collected? Have you heard about PayPal’s gambling policies?
In case you haven’t heard, PayPal considers collecting money in connection with a giveaway as being in violation of their gambling policies. Lots of well-intentioned mommy bloggers out there have run into this issue and with it, incurred *HUGE* headaches. So, obviously, PayPal is out.
I did lots of research, and in the end, decided to go with GiveForward.org.
Why GiveForward.org?
A few reasons:
1) Above all else, their fees were of the lowest of all the other donation collection sites. And they didn’t have any start up fees for the organizer.
“GiveForward charges Fundraisers 3% of total donations to cover the costs of maintaining GiveForward.org. In addition, the credit card companies charge Fundraisers a processing fee of 2.6% plus $0.20 per transaction, which means that an average donation of $40 costs the fundraiser $2.44 in total fees.
There are no fees for Donors.
Just to give an idea of where GiveForward falls in the spectrum, the most popular online giving sites charge between 4.75% and 25%.”
2) They have amazing customer service. Each time I had a question, I received a personal email within hours. That, to me, is priceless. (and for the record, giveaways are kosher with them…I made sure).
3) While I don’t know which charities/causes my guest bloggers will select, I didn’t want to stifle their choices in any way. Some donation sites require that you can only donate to a registered non-profit. Which means, that if we wanted to raise money for a specific family (say, to help with medical bills), we wouldn’t be able to do that. I’m not sure we’re going that route, but I didn’t want to have that be a roadblock later on just in case.
Okay, so how does this site and GiveForward work together? How would I donate?
GiveForward has this really cool feature where I can set up a Group. So, we will be the “Life.Rearranged” group. Every time we do a fundraiser, I’ll provide you with a link. I’ll have it all set up, you just have to enter in your donation amount and credit card info. It will keep track of the group’s total fundraising, not only for that particular charity, but also the overall total we raise over the year! **You don’t have to create an account and log in to donate. BUT, if you want GiveForward to keep track of everything for tax purposes, you have to create an account and log in every time you donate.**
Is any of this tax deductible?
YES! and No. Basically, if the selected charity is a registered non-profit, then yes, it is tax deductible (which I think will be the case most times). If we raise funds for a family or individual…then, no it isn’t. Either way, provided that you created an account and signed in every time, GiveForward keeps track of your giving and even separates it according to it’s deductibility (is that a word?). At the end of the year, you can print your account info and take it to your tax guy. Woop woop!
GiveForward has an entire Frequently Asked Questions section for more details.
I hate fees. Why don’t you just collect the money yourself and donate it to the charity?
First of all, I am 100% committed to making giving easy. I don’t want anyone to suspect that I am siphoning money off the top or find myself having to constantly “prove” that I gave all of the money. Since most of you don’t know me from Adam, I thought that dealing with some small fees was worth the peace of mind. And honestly, I don’t know anything about tax law, but my guess is that it wouldn’t be that simple. I’d probably have to register as something or another and I’m just not in the mode for that kind of thing right now.
So, what’s in it for you Jeannett?
Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. I don’t have any kind of contract with GiveForward. I don’t get any money from the total raised. I just get warm fuzzies? Sure. Whatever. I just wanted to do this, and didn’t worry about making anything out of it for myself. Is that weird? I don’t know, but that’s the truth.
Great! So when do we start?!
I’m so glad you asked! Oh wait, you didn’t? I just made that up? Yeah.
Anyway, Monday is our first guest blogger. I won’t tell who. But know that she is amazing.
And now dear readers: ANY QUESTIONS???
(Not just about money, but about this whole Idea in general? I finally filled in the FAQ section at the top of the page too!)
And don’t forget: you have 6 ways to enter to win a $30 shop credit from Toile Tales! Enter HERE.
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You DID look just like that when I came by yesterday!!! Can’t wait to get this party started, Jeannett! I’m so glad you explained how to do this once it gets going, cuz, you know, some of us would really have problems!
sounds like a good plan to me!