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Edit: Thank you all for your answers, I consider this issue resolved! The answer appears to be that there is no easy or universal platform that enforces charity-matching commitments, but that

  • charities are often willing to work with you to set up a match if you are a moderately big relative to the size of the charity (my $2000 might have "a shot" with a small charity), and
  • I should look for existing matching programs on fundraising or crowdfunding platforms.

I would like to be able to pick a charity, set up an interface for people to contribute to that charity, and promise to match all contributions made through this interface up to a certain amount (probably around $1000). Alternatively, I would like to find someone else who is already doing this and donate to their chosen charity.

Does anyone know of a (low-cost) service that makes this possible? I don't want to have to learn any cryptocurrency type techniques

I'm guessing the challenges are proving that I will match contributions, and ensuring that the contributors have actually contributed to my chosen charity.

Failing this, are there websites that aggregate charity-matching commitments (where I could search for things like "the Elizabeth Moneybags Foundation will match charitable contributions to the Derek Zoolander Center up to $10,000 for the period 2/1/2018-6/1/2018")?

Bob Baerker
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capet
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3 Answers3

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In the United States you can't setup your own charity matching site unless you are willing to go though state and federal regulations. If you aren't a charity then peoples donations to your site would not be counted as being a charitable gift, unless the you are regulated by the state a federal taxing authorities.

If you want your money to be matched: find a charity you believe in and periodically check for drives where other individuals have pledged matching funds.

If you want to encourage other to donate: Contact a charity you believe in and offer to match others donations. They will work with you to define the matching rate, the time period, the qualification rules, and the maximum amount.

Those existing charities will have all the proper paperwork, they will be recognized charities, and they will have a platform for accepting donations.

You don't have to worry about verifying donations, collecting credit card info, or establishing trust.

mhoran_psprep
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Usually just telling the charity that you'd like to structure a gift like this will work. Many charities already have donor networks to whom they will forward the notification.

Glen Pierce
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You don't get to be your own charity collections engine unless you want to do all the legwork (read: legal work) that has been done by companies like JustGive, IndieGoGo, or Amazon Charities -- among other things

  • to license yourself in every state to be a charitable fundraiser*. There are fifty of 'em!
  • to either make your entity nonprofit, and deal with the paperwork and timelag of that designation; or go for-profit and deal with the morass of law that deters the abuses we've seen (fundraising companies back-charging the charity 91% of the money they fundraised, did happen).
  • create a platform to allow you to positively prove you aren't pocketing half the donations. Charities, large donors, state AGs and the IRS will expect to see this.

There's a really staggering amount of fraud in this area. Half the work is proving you're not that.

This kind of picayune nitwork is sheer agony that distracts you from your goal. Don't reinvent the wheel.

For instance, you can go to a charity, ask them to spin up an IndieGoGo or competitor campaign, and make (to the charity) an enforceable pledge that you will match it 100%. The fact that an independent third-party (IndieGoGo) is handling the money/accounting solves a lot of the accountability issues.

Now the enforceable pledge is a legal debt. You need to pay it. If push comes to shove, they can take you to court to pay it, garnish your wages, all that. (of course it's very bad form to beat up a donor like that.) As such, I like to put clauses in pledge agreements that say if I donate using other methods, that reduces the amount of the pledge by the same dollar amount. Same if I arrange a donation from my donor-advised fund. That gives me the latitude to donate in ways practical for me.

If you are a 5-digit donor, you should seriously evaluate donor-advised funds. They solve so many problems.

* You notice some crowdfunding platforms don't support nonprofit campaigns. This is why.

Harper - Reinstate Monica
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