Laura Pourinski 
Comments
August 3, 2020 
With the end of the year approaching, people are starting to think about the holidays and how to spend their money wisely during the busy gift giving season. But this year, consider giving to not only your friends and loved ones, but charitable organizations and non-profits as well. A good portion of the funds that support their good work throughout the year are collected during the holiday season.
RewardExpert spoke with Network for Good’s Chief Revenue Officer Keith White and Vice President of Digital Marketing Lisa Bonanno about what giving really means as we get ready to cross another year off the calendar.
An Online Giving Platform
Founded in 2001, Network for Good was formed by a group of internet giants including AOL, Yahoo and Cisco. “They saw an opportunity to facilitate and educate the market about the future of giving online, so they created Network for Good,” said White. “The concept was specifically trying to help facilitate the giving through the creation of a donor-advised fund that would allow for a clearinghouse place to accept gifts and then re-gift them to individual charities and also provide an educational mission to charities and develop the online phase in giving.”
Since the company’s inception, over $1.4 billion in donations for over 125,000 nonprofits have been processed. Network for Good offers a powerful suite of fundraising software and services to help nonprofits, companies, software developers and donors achieve their monetary goals. Bonanno said one of the advantages of digital giving is that it’s very easy to set up a giving page.
However, sometimes there are questions regarding the legitimacy of an organization. With Network for Good, that’s not something anyone needs to worry about. “What’s unique about Network for Good is that with our consumer giving portal every nonprofit there is a 501(c)3 in good standing, so they’ve already been vetted, which is important on the consumer side to know that the nonprofit is going to spend the money appropriately and is actually going to the nonprofit.” White added,
“People want to make sure that their money is being put to good use, so one of the things that’s great about Network for Good is that you can see information on how the charity is using the money. And you have the ability to divide it up among all the different charities you would like to give to.”
The Power of Giving Tuesday
Just like Black Friday and Cyber Monday have become staples in American consumerism, Giving Tuesday, the Tuesday after the US holiday of Thanksgiving, is becoming a phenomenon in its own right. Giving Tuesday first started in 2012 as result of efforts by the 92nd Street Y in New York City. It has quickly become a movement that celebrates philanthropy and kicks off the holiday charitable giving season.
White described it as a day that is focused on giving and noted that “it’s the consumer influence that’s been built into our culture for some time regarding spending that money.” He noted that over 25% of all giving is done in that last month of the year, so it’s important that people are able to work giving into their budgets.
Give Anytime, Anywhere
Network for Good’s powerful fundraising software and web services allow anyone to donate anywhere, anytime for a wide variety of causes. “What’s great about our mobile platform is that it’s all mobile ready, so our nonprofits are able to serve up multiple donation pages so their supporters and donors and give wherever they are,” stated Bonanno.
She said the hurricanes in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico definitely had an impact on giving. “The week Harvey hit, we had $14.7 million in donations for that week, and it was 4.15 times higher than that same week in 2016. It’s amazing that you have these awful disasters and people respond.”
For help in creating your own donation page or to see how you can make a year-end charitable donation to a good cause, check out Network for Good You might just make someone’s tomorrow better today. And get a tax deduction as the year comes to a close.