|
The YourCause FAQ
will help answer all of your questions about the YourCause website. If you are curious about some aspect of the site you may want to look through this list of questions before contacting us directly. If you do not see the answer that you need here, visit our contacts page: Contact Us .
|
|
|
|
What is a "cause" and how does it relate to a charity?
|
A cause is your personal campaign on behalf of a charity (an IRS approved 501(c)(3)) with a mission close to your heart. Whether it's raising awareness, promoting a particular event, or raising money, it's about your passion to make a difference.
It is often easier to select a recipient charity first to determine exactly what you would like your cause to be. For example, after determining you would like to support a breast cancer charity such as Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, your “cause” may be ‘Finding a cure to end cancer ’ or ‘Raising awareness about prevention of breast cancer.’
|
|
back to top
|
|
How do I find the charity I am looking for?
|
The YourCause.com database includes public charities recognized by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue. This data contains more than 1.4 million nonprofit organizations. However, a charity may not be listed for various reasons including the following:
- The charity may be listed under a different name.
- The charity only recently received its 501(c)(3) status and has not yet been added to the database.
- The organization is recognized as a private foundation (not a public charity) and therefore does not qualify for representation on our site
- The charity may be a place of worship that is not recognized as a tax-exempt organization by the IRS.
If you are having trouble finding your charity of choice in the search engine, please try the following tips:
- Do not use any punctuation, such as apostrophes, commas and periods.
- Use variations of a word: try using “St” and also “Saint”, or leave off “Inc”.
- Search within a zip code by keyword if you know where the charity is located.
If you are still cannot locate the charity you are looking for, please email info[at]yourcause.com for assistance in finding the exact charity name search.
|
|
back to top
|
|
Why are some charities inactivated?
|
|
If the charity you want to support does not have a link to its listing, the charity has asked to be removed from the giving system. If you would still like to make a donation to any organization, you can contact the organization directly.
|
|
back to top
|
|
Can I set up a personal cause to raise money for myself, a friend or family member who is sick or in need?
|
Unfortunately, we cannot approve causes for individual or personal needs at this time, and we cannot accept donations for those with individual, personal causes.
All causes must be linked to a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity registered with the Internal Revenue Service on YourCause.com.
All donations made through our site are securely processed through Network For Good, approved by the BBB with over $180 million donated. Donations are always sent directly to the registered charity.
|
|
back to top
|
|
What makes a great Cause Page?
|
A compelling appeal and lots and lots - of photos - particularly a great profile photo! If you do not want to upload a personal photo of yourself, you may upload a cause-related image (ex. a photo of your cat adopted from the SPCA). In a social network, a photo says a thousand words and helps make your cause real to others.
A catchy headline will help to keep viewers drawn to your cause, too. And the more you change it, the better. Refreshing your page often makes it more interesting to visitors.. We encourage you to reach out by telling your personal story or using a quote. Other things that add substance to your cause page include adding Favorite Charities, Events/Blogs, supporting others who are linked to your same charity, and adding additional photos.
|
|
back to top
|
|
What does YourCause do to help support members?
|
YourCause.com is proud to me your partner in making a difference that matters. Here is how we support you:-
Daily Donation – We award one Daily Donation each day, Monday thru Friday. Not only does your charity receive a donation from yourCause.com, but your cause is also featured prominently on our homepage for the day.
- Daily Featured Charitable Organization – Everyday, we feature a charity on our homepage. If your cause is linked to that charity, viewers see all linked causes
- Daily Featured Causes – We have implemented a slideshow to proudly display several member causes each day. Each cause is featured with a cause-related background image to grab viewer’s attention to your cause. YourCause.com also features a member cause each day on the “All Causes” page, and a member is featured at the top of each category page.
This is your opportunity to make your difference in the world with a huge, global Internet presence. Our goal is to give you all the means and tools to do just that!
|
|
back to top
|
|
How does a charity get on your Website?
|
Non-profit listings featured on YourCause.com originate from the GuideStar database that contains records on more than 1.4 million organizations classified as 501(c)(3) by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). GuideStar verifies that each organization is qualified under IRS rules to receive tax-deductible contributions and updates its data monthly to ensure its listings are accurate.
Network for Good, our transaction partner, processes all donations securely and distributes the contributions directly to the charities.
While we attempt to provide as much information as possible, we encourage you to do your homework about any charity you chose to support or promote.
|
|
back to top
|
|
How do I find a specific branch of a charity?
|
Several charities list their various branches separately and some do not depending on how they were originally set up with the IRS.
If a charity has several branches that display in your search results, you may wish to search by zip code within those results. Each branch that is set up within a charity will have its own tax ID number.
Some charities do not set up individual branches separately. You will return only one search result if this is the case.
|
|
back to top
|
|
How are the charities and causes assigned to categories?
|
|
The IRS automatically assigns each registered nonprofit organization a category. This information is also pulled directly from the IRS database. YourCause.com has no influence on this assignment and cannot make changes. If you are a nonprofit charity with this problem, you may wish to contact the IRS to have your associated category reassigned.
|
|
back to top
|
|
When do charities receive their donations?
|
|
Network for Good sends donations to charities on the 15th of each month and include all donations processed in the previous month. For example, donations processed in January will be disbursed on February 15th.
|
|
back to top
|
|
How do the charities know who the donations are from?
|
|
The donations will state they are from YourCause.com on behalf of the name of the person who set up the cause.
|
|
back to top
|
|
What is my cause page URL?
|
|
Your URL is www.yourcause.com/User ID.
|
|
back to top
|
|
How do I cancel my account or my subscription?
|
|
Send an email request to accounts[at]yourcause.com to cancel your account.
|
|
back to top
|
|
Why does YourCause.com list me as the Founder?
|
|
You are the “founder” of the cause, not the charity
|
|
back to top
|
|
How do you remove a charity or cause?
|
|
To remove a charity or cause, you must start another cause. This option appears under the “Admin Tools” panel. Your previous cause will then deactivate.
|
|
back to top
|
|
Why does my recipient charity page fail to show a logo or any information once I have selected it?
|
|
Once your cause page has been approved, YourCause.com will activate the charity information page within 24 hours, Monday through Friday.
|
|
back to top
|
|
Can I link to more than one charity at a time?
|
|
Not at this time; however, you may chose to change your charity recipient at any time.
|
|
back to top
|
|
How long does it take for my profile and cause to be approved?
|
|
Assuming that your cause meets our criteria , YourCause.com makes every effort to approve it within 24 hours, Monday through Friday.
|
|
back to top
|
|
Do I have to register to make a donation?
|
|
Yes, you must register for a quick, free member account to make a donation. However, you are not required to set up a cause.
|
|
back to top
|
|
Who pays for the donation processing fees?
|
|
When you pay by credit card, there is a 4.75% tax-deductible processing fee that is deducted from your donation. You can choose to cover this fee by adding it to your donation total. This is the fee charged by banks, credit card companies and other administrative costs. Electing to contribute directly to a charity through their own Website does not mean that you avoid paying processing fees. All charities incur fees when processing donations. YourCause.com still saves your favorite charity money, because our processing fees are extremely low (through our partner, Network for Good). Several charities have to pay more to credit card companies.
|
|
back to top
|
|
Is the donation transaction secure?
|
|
YourCause.com uses industry-leading Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology to keep your personal information as secure as possible. YourCause.com helps to protect your information by working with partners that provide a secure and safe environment for credit card donations. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information.
|
|
back to top
|
|
Does YourCause.com take any percentage of donations as profit?
|
|
Absolutely not. YourCause.com actually gives a percentage of our profits back to our users through our Daily Donation program. Any profit incurred is solely from advertising and premium memberships.
|
|
back to top
|
|
Can I specify how the charity may use my donation, or dedicate my donation to someone or make a donation on behalf of a person?
|
Yes, you may specify how you'd like your donation to be used by the charity by entering the information in the Designation field during the donation process. You can also dedicate a donation to someone in particular, or make a donation on behalf of another person. We will pass along the request with your donation.
Please note that YourCause.com cannot guarantee that charities will honor these requests. If you are concerned about your donation being used for a specific purpose, please contact the charity directly to make sure they are able to honor your request.
|
|
back to top
|
|
Is my donation tax-deductable? Will I get a receipt for my donation?
|
Yes, donations are 100% tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law, because every charity in our database is qualified to receive tax deductible donations under the Internal Revenue Service rules.
When you make an online donation, a receipt will be automatically emailed to you from Network for Good.
When you file your taxes, you will need to itemize your donations on Schedule A of the 1040 form. You can download this form and the instructions for how to fill it out from the IRS Web site.
|
|
back to top
|
|
Does Yourcause.com include nonprofit organizations worldwide or only those in the United States?
|
|
Our charity database includes only those organizations recognized by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service as public charities. In most cases, these organizations are organized and registered in the U.S., and they often conduct charitable operations around the world.
|
|
back to top
|
|
Why donate through YourCause.com?
|
- It's easier than writing a check and putting it in the mail.
- You are automatically emailed a receipt for tax-purposes.
- It saves your favorite charity money, because our processing fees are extremely low (through our partner Network for Good). Many charities have to pay more to credit card companies to process online donations thru their own Website.
|
|
back to top
|
|
How can I change my charity recipient without having to start the process over?
|
|
Once logged in, an easy way to change your charity is to “Edit” your Recipient Charity on your cause page. This feature will allow you to search for a new charity.
|
|
back to top
|
|
What happens if I change my charity and I already have donations?
|
|
Once a donation is made to your charity, a transaction is automatically processed at the same time. This allows you to change your charity at any time while ensuring previous donations have already been processed.
|
|
back to top
|
|
How do I subscribe to the YourCause email newsletter?
|
|
On our homepage, click on ‘Free Newsletter’ right above our Newest Causes.
|
|
back to top
|
|
What is Zazzle shopping?
|
|
Zazzle is a storefront that allows you to create personalized YourCause merchandise. Check it out from our homepage!
|
|
back to top
|
|
What can I do on other people’s pages?
|
The purpose of a social network is to connect, communicate and support other members and their causes. There are several things you can do to interact on the cause pages of others!
- Add a member’s charity to your Favorites
- Add a Personal Testimonial for the member
- Rate the member
- Leave a message (Support statement)
- Donate to their cause
- Tell a friend about their cause
There are several new interactive features we will be launching in the near future, such as Message Boards, Friends, Video, Audio, blogging, etc.
|
|
back to top
|