‘CaringCent’ Innovates Fundraising in U.S. to Empower Donors, Benefit Nonprofits
ALBUQUERQUE, NM—CaringCent is making a big change in the world of fundraising by rounding small change to benefit nonprofits across the United States, allowing anyone and everyone to make a difference. “Rounding” allows shoppers to round their purchase price up to the nearest dollar with each credit or debit card purchase, resulting in change they can then direct to the nonprofit of their choice.
CaringCent’s innovative fundraising program is groundbreaking in its scope – in addition to charities, shoppers can also contribute to educational institutions, religious organizations and even political campaigns. Now, with CaringCent, instead of donating to the charity solicited by a sponsoring merchant, consumers can direct their change to the nonprofit they personally support. Additionally, even the smallest nonprofit has access to these micro-donations – the fastest growing donation segment in fundraising.
“CaringCent was born out of the idea that we should all be able to have a say in where our money goes,” said Dr. Jim Wills, co-founder of CaringCent. “CaringCent empowers everyone, regardless of budget, to make a big difference every day in someone’s life simply by rounding up on a purchase. Likewise, our clients benefit from building relationships with their donors. CaringCent is a common ‘cents’ approach to 21st century fundraising.”
The idea came about when Dr. Wills and his CaringCent colleagues were asked many times at checkout counters across the country to give to a charity that wasn’t the charity of their choice. This video sums up the experience the CaringCent team is changing:
http://caringcent.com/video/.
Here’s how the program works: once donors register their credit or debit card on the secure CaringCent site, they can choose the nonprofit of their choice. For specified purchases, the CaringCent platform rounds the transaction up to the nearest dollar creating change, which then goes directly to the donor’s nonprofit of choice. For example, a purchase made at a restaurant for $35.20 means that the amount will be rounded to $36, with 80 cents going to the consumer’s charity. Donors have the ability to cap donations.
Nonprofits across the country are praising CaringCent for the program’s ability to reach new donors, creating a steady stream of donations for their important efforts. The CaringCent program is rolling out nationally with organizations such as the Ronald McDonald House chapters, Boys and Girls Club chapters, as well as local non-profits that anchor their communities. They include: Victory Program (Boston, Mass.), Family and Children’s Services (New York); and, of course, more than 20 clients in CaringCent’s home city of Albuquerque.
“There are many people who rely on our services every day. CaringCent will enable our organization to engage new supporters while empowering our existing donors to support our mission just by going about their daily lives,” said Pete Sheehan, chief executive officer of MyLifeLine.org. “When you add up all the change throughout the year and multiply that by hundreds of donors rounding up, that adds up to thousands of dollars which will go towards MyLifeLine.org. CaringCent provides us with a program to extend our fundraising efforts in a manner that is remarkably efficient, ensuring that our donations go to services and not overhead.”
Rounded donations made to 501(c)(3) organizations are tax deductible, and a record of these donations can be accessed at any time via the donor’s CaringCent account. Most importantly, with CaringCent, the next time a consumer is solicited at a store to donate to a charity that isn’t the nonprofit they care most about, they can simply say, “no thank-you, my rounded donation goes to the nonprofit I prefer to support.”
For information on using CaringCent as either a donor or a nonprofit organization, visit www.caringcent.com.
