iGive responds to criticisms
Howard Lake | 4 April 1999 | News
Online shops that offer to give a percentage of sales to non-profits are not always handing over the money very promptly, reports the New York Times. In the story Electronic Fine Print Is Limiting Internet Charity on 31 March, reporter Reed Abelson asked: “what happens to the few dollars you thought was speeding its way to a good cause? While many charities are getting checks directly from these sites, it is impossible to know in every case. It may not end up in the charity’s hands as fast as you imagined – if at all.”
The story featured a range of online shopping companies that had delayed payments, made few payments or failed to make payments for some reason. Stores featured in the article included CharityWeb, iGive, Shop2Give.com, 4charity.com, MyCause.com and socialgoods.com. UK Fundraising has featured the development of iGive.com in particular since it was launched in 1997. Of iGive, Abelson reported “fewer than a quarter [of its listed non-profits] have been paid or can expect a check soon.”
There is, of course, a danger of individuals or organisations using the Web in this way to perpetrate a telemarketing scam to defraud charities and donors, so such critical analysis is essential for the development of this method of fundraising. The way forward is, of course, closer co-operation between these entrepreneurial sites and their beneficiary charities, greater transparency on donations generated and paid, and a clearer understanding on the part of the entrepreneurs of the laws regarding trading to make donations to non-profits.
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iGive’s founder Robert Grosshandler, who was interviewed for the New York Times article, wrote on 1st April to the CharityTalk e-mail discussion list to address some of the issues raised. He wrote: “Our goal is complete transparency (in the openness sense of the word). Absolute accountability and explicitness, member by member. So, to that end –”
- We’re going to put online a list of the last 45 days worth of checks we’ve sent out, including amounts, the NPO, and the date sent.
- We’re going to put online images (a sampling) of the thank you notes and receipts we’ve received from nonprofits.
- Each member can already go online and see ALL of the checks we’ve sent to their particular NPO. Each member can see ALL of the transactions we’ve credited to them. Each member can see the total amount of money earned on behalf of their favorite worthy cause. If there is a problem, we want to know about it.
- Unlike others making noise in our space, a member knows exactly what’s up with iGive and their particular worthy cause, down to the penny. Heck, unlike others, we have something to report.
- With iGive, your favorite nonprofit gets $2, just for your signing up.
- Just visiting also does good. It may be pennies a day, or dollars per day, but we offer ways for members to help their favorite nonprofits at no cost to themselves or their cause.
- We invite you to sign up and list your nonprofit. We think we’re very clear on our policies. Judge for yourself.
- We have about $2,000,000 invested in this business so far, and expect to invest multiple millions more. This is a business for us, not a dorm room adventure. It’s our opportunity to do well by doing good. To succeed, we’ll have to work very hard, get the cooperation of the community, and focus.
- We do not discriminate. If you feel that helping somebody with a broken nose is a worthy cause, we’ll help you support that somebody. If the only person who thinks that is the person with the broken nose, they won’t earn lots of money through iGive.com. It’s about personal empowerment. There are lots of state and federal officials who are in a much better position to judge ‘goodness’ than we are. We do NOT make recommendations as to the goodness or appropriateness of any particular nonprofit.
- 10 – 20 new nonprofits get listed at iGive every day. We’re extremely excited at the difference we’re already making. Thanks to all of the participants on this list for helping. We’re constantly making improvements, based upon the suggestions of our members, the nonprofits we’re helping, the fourth estate, and just anybody else who’s willing to help. So, please keep those cards and letters (and now e-mails) coming.”
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.